Holiday
by sdl90
Summary: A series of one-shots set around the major holidays during Finn and Rachel's first full year back together.
1. Rocket's Red Glare

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, and favorited my last story and me as an author. You have no idea how much it means to me. So, as a thank you, I've started another story for y'all. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

* * *

><p>It was the Fourth of July and everyone Finn cared about was sitting in his back yard enjoying the barbeque he had suggested having for the holiday. It was the last summer he would have as a high school student and he wanted to enjoy it to its fullest extent. He was back with Rachel and they were stronger than ever, his family was the happiest he had ever seen them and his glee family seemed to have finally forgiven him and Rachel for the whole Kiss of the Century snafu, even Santana.<p>

Everyone sat around in lawn chairs chatting about everything and nothing, digesting their hamburgers and hotdogs just waiting for the sky to grow dark enough to finally shoot off some fireworks. Puck had supplied them with an arsenal's worth of firecrackers, parachutes, rockets and other various things that could potentially blow his hands off and he was itching to finally light 'em up. Burt only agreed to let Puck handle the fireworks under his supervision but Puck didn't care. He just wanted to light the damn things.

"How much you wanna bet Puck will end up in the emergency room tonight?" Finn asked Rachel as he sat down next to her at the table.

"I'm sure Noah is more than capable of handling the fireworks, but if he does end up in the hospital I will not be above telling him 'I told you so'. They're dangerous and he should really let Burt handle them," Rachel replied leaning into Finn as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Honestly, I think the reason my parents are letting him deal with them is because my mom doesn't want Burt to end up in the hospital again. She constantly worries about him. But whatever, either way it should be a good show."

Rachel chuckled slightly. "Oh! I should go get the cupcakes I made from the kitchen. They're strawberry and even though they're vegan, I think you'll find them quite delicious. I'll be right back." Rachel stood from the table and made her way into the house.

Even though Rachel didn't ask for help, Finn decided to be gentlemanly and go help out anyway. He also thought they might be able to sneak in a moment alone together, but if anyone asked, he was leaving for the first reason.

As Finn made his way through the house and into the kitchen, he found Rachel standing in front of the refrigerator staring into it. "Finn, do you think I should bring out some more lemonade?" Rachel asked as she noticed Finn enter the kitchen. She was in the process of eating a cupcake as she pulled the pitcher of pink lemonade out of the fridge. Rachel let the door slam shut and she took another bite of the cupcake as she set the pitcher down. Finn couldn't help but stare at Rachel's mouth as she chewed. There was the littlest bit of frosting stuck on her upper lip and it was just too much for him to handle.

Without further ado, Finn closed the distance between him and Rachel and licked the frosting off her top lip. "Finn!" Rachel squealed through her cupcake. She swallowed quickly. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, you had some frosting. I just wanted to help clean you off," he said with a smirk on his face. Rachel gave a small smile back.

"You know, I think we have some time until it gets dark enough for fireworks. We could-" Rachel began until Finn cut her off with a hard kiss, already ten steps ahead of her. Rachel placed the remainder of her cupcake on the island and wrapped her arms around Finn's neck as he continued kissing her.

Ever since reuniting in the library the last day of school, Finn and Rachel had practically been inseparable. They spent every moment together discussing things such as the past and how to avoid anything like their last break up, the future and how they'd make their relationship work for the long term, finally being seniors and how they were going to win Nationals in glee next year and how Rachel would attend every football game of the season even if she had no idea what was going on. Any time not spent discussing things of that nature was used on the equally important task of making out.

This time around Rachel was much quicker to let Finn get farther. They still hadn't had sex or even gotten past second base but Rachel didn't mind when Finn slipped his hand up her shirt the one afternoon and it found its way under her bra. Finn thought for sure Rachel would stop him and slap him for even trying such a thing but she actually seemed to encourage him. The sounds she made when he rolled her nipple between his fingers gave him serious mailman problems and even just thinking about it after the fact made him need a cold shower.

Standing in the kitchen making out was definitely a high point of their rekindled romance. Not wanting to have to lean over so far to reach her mouth, Finn moved Rachel against the counter and lifted her up so she was sitting on it. He stood between her legs, hands resting on her hips as she pulled at his face trying to keep their mouths in contact.

Rachel ran her hands through Finn's hair and Finn moved his hands to just above Rachel's knees. He gripped her thighs lightly and started running his hands up them to just below the hem of her short skirt. Somewhat hesitantly, Finn moved his hands under the hem and continued his path towards Rachel's backside. He thought for sure this would be the moment Rachel would stop them and suggest heading back outside to see if it was time for fireworks, but once again Rachel surprised him. She ran her own hands down Finn's chest and upon reaching the bottom of his t-shirt, placed her hands under it and ran them up his bare chest.

Rachel wasn't trying to take his shirt off. She was aware of their setting; she just wanted to feel his bare chest under her hands. She loved how his skin felt. Rachel was also aware of Finn's hands gripping her backside. For once she really didn't mind though. It felt so nice to have Finn want her again, to actually _want_ to be with her, that she didn't feel as apprehensive about letting him get a little of what he wanted. Rachel was by no means ready for sex yet however. As much as she loved Finn and _did_ want to have sex with him, they had just re-entered their relationship. They needed to learn one another over again and better this time.

The pair just sat there in the moment kissing each other madly and feeling whatever parts of each other they could reach when their heated make-out was interrupted. "As hot as kitchen sex can be, could you two kids maybe wait until you have the house to yourselves?" Puck asked with an amused look as he leaned against the entry way between the kitchen and dining room.

Rachel pulled her hands from under Finn's shirt and slapped his hands away from her body. Finn pulled away from the counter and helped Rachel hop off. She shook her head haughtily and ran her hands through her hair. "We were _not_ having sex, Noah."

"Really? 'Cause it looked like Finn was gettin' real close to pokin' ya, Berry," Puck said mockingly. Rachel smacked him repeatedly on the arm, offended and blushing beyond belief.

"What do you want Puck?" Finn intervened pulling Rachel away from him before she could beat him up further.

Puck picked up one of Rachel's cupcakes and bit into it. "Kurt said he saw you two head in here. I was coming to find you to let you know we were gonna start setting the fireworks off because I'm such an awesome friend. You're lucky I found you instead of Burt or Carole. I don't think they'd appreciate you two desecrating their kitchen."

Rachel huffed. "We weren't doi-"

"Save it Berry, I don't care. Come on, I wanna light these suckers already." With that Puck left the kitchen.

Finn sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "He's kinda got a point. If my mom or Burt had found us, they would not have been happy."

"If you're saying I should be grateful that Puck caught us making out, you would be mistaken. It's mortifying and I'm sure he'll tell everyone we were having sex when we weren't." Rachel huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Finn shook his head. "Does it really matter, Rach? I think everyone thinks we've been having sex since we got back from New York anyway."

At this news, Rachel looked appalled. "And why would they think that?" she practically screamed out.

"These walls aren't exactly sound proof babe. Kurt has heard us in some of our heavier…" Finn trailed off seeing Rachel's mortified expression. "It's okay Rachel. It doesn't matter what they think. We know the truth and I'm not in any hurry. I mean, yeah, I want to have sex with you, like, really bad. I always have, but I can wait. I love you and I only want you. If that means I have to wait for you to be 25 and to win a Tony award first, I'll do it."

"You remember that?" Rachel asked, a huge smile crossing her face.

"Of course, it was the first time you let me touch your boobs," Finn confessed with a half smile. Rachel rolled her eyes.

Just then a high pitched whine then a small explosion and crackle could be heard coming from outside. "I think Puck got tired of waiting for us," Rachel said as she grabbed the cupcakes. Finn grabbed the lemonade and they both headed outside.

They put the cupcakes and lemonade on the table along with the other food and sat back down on the bench. Finn wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulders as she did the same to his waist. They both watched as Puck lit the fuse on the next firework. Seconds later the rocket shot up and exploded into a giant wheel of red and green with a loud pop.

As his girlfriend watched the colors in the sky, Finn watched her. Now that he had her back he knew he'd do anything and everything he could to never lose her again. Though he wasn't much of a city boy, Finn had a feeling New York could really grow on him as long as Rachel was right there beside him.

* * *

><p>While it would make sense to post these as the holidays arrive, that would take far too long and I don't want to make anyone wait (including myself), so I will post the chapters as I write them. I think we can all use a little imagination to create Christmas in June though, right? Also, just a warning for now, while this chapter was pretty tame, future chapters will not be, hence the M rating. :)<p> 


	2. More Like Lazy Day

It was Labor Day weekend which meant it was the last weekend of summer before school started. Like they had been all summer Finn and Rachel were at Rachel's contemplating how to spend their final weekend.

"We could go see a movie," Rachel said, sitting down on her bed. "At least there will be air conditioning." The air conditioning unit at Rachel's house went kaput the day prior so it was stifling inside. Even with every window in the place open and noisy fans running in every room, there was little relief.

Finn sat up on Rachel's bed. He wasn't wearing a shirt and Rachel couldn't help but stare at his chest. Despite being together all summer she hadn't really seen him without one on very much. Apparently after the Rocky Horror fiasco Finn felt even weirder about being shirtless in public. Hearing that people needed intensive therapy after seeing him in only his boxers had really made him self-conscious and he still wore the swim shirt whenever at the public pool. He was getting better about being less self-conscious in front of Rachel though. If only Rachel could do the same. She wanted to be more physically intimate with Finn but she still didn't feel quite ready. Whenever the thought of being completely exposed in front of her boyfriend crossed her mind she couldn't help but panic a little.

"It's such a nice day out though. We probably won't have too many of them left. Wanna go to the park? Most people are at the pool so we'd probably be alone at the lake if you want to go swimming," he replied, hopeful. He really wanted to swim but he knew the pool would be packed.

Rachel shrugged. "Sure. Let me just put my suit on then we can head over."

Finn practically jumped off the bed and headed toward the door. "I'll be in the truck." He opened the door and headed downstairs. Rachel went to her underwear and sock drawer which also contained her bathing suits and pulled out the cutest one she owned. It was a bright red bikini with little gold stars printed all over it. When she saw it hanging on the rack at Target she knew she had to buy it immediately. Gold stars _were_ kinda her thing. Ten minutes later Rachel hopped into Finn's truck carrying a bag with a blanket, beach towels, sunscreen, water bottles and some snacks.

When they arrived at the lake where Rachel had sung for Burt, Finn found he was right. No one was around. He didn't understand why people never swam here. Rachel laid the blanket out and placed the towels on top of that. Once everything was set up she pulled her bathing suit cover-up off and heard a low whistle.

"Wow," Finn said simply as he stared up at Rachel standing over him. It wasn't the first time he had seen Rachel in a bikini but the sight never failed to get him going. It _was_ the first time he had seen her in this particular bikini though. "That bathing suit just screams Rachel Berry."

Rachel laughed. "I thought so too," she said kneeling onto the blanket next to Finn. She leaned down to kiss him and he pulled her against him. Rachel pulled her lips from his and softly asked if he'd put sunscreen on her back and shoulders. She rolled off him and laid on her stomach. Finn sat up and squeezed sunscreen into his hands and started rubbing it onto her back.

He took his time smoothing the lotion into her skin just enjoying being able to touch her. Finn could never get enough. Once finished Rachel did the same for him and they headed into the lake.

Rachel walked out into the chilly water. It instantly covered more of her body than it did Finn's. Being short did that. She continued wading out until she got to her belly button. The water was still only mid-thigh on Finn. "This isn't fair, I'm going to be underwater before it even gets to your waist," she pouted. Finn laughed and moved out a little farther pulling Rachel with him. Once it got deep enough he could bend his knees and bob, he stopped and shrank down to Rachel's level.

"There, now we're equal," he said leaning forward to capture her lips with his. Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed Finn backward releasing herself from him before he fell completely over. He came up spluttering water everywhere and wiped his eyes clear. "Oh, so that's how it is!" he shouted with mock annoyance. He could see Rachel laughing a few feet in front of him. Before she could get away he lunged forward and grabbed her around the waist lifting her out of the water. He threw her over his shoulder and waded deeper into the lake.

"You put me down right this instant, Finn Hudson!" Rachel squealed, kicking her legs out and pounding on Finn's back.

"Whatever you say, babe," he said with laughter in his voice before he tossed her into the water. She landed with a loud splash and came up almost instantly. He could hear her loud gasp for air and he couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter. Rachel looked like Cousin It with all of her hair covering her face. She whipped her hair back, splattering Finn's face with droplets of water in the process and gave him an annoyed look.

"You are _so_ going to pay for that," Rachel said with an evil smirk.

"Oh yeah? How so?" Finn asked raising his eyebrow and giving her his trademark lopsided grin.

Without another word, Rachel sunk back under the water and completely disappeared. "Rachel?" Finn called. He moved in the direction she had been in. "Rachel," he called again.

It had been nearly a minute and Rachel still hadn't resurfaced. Finn was getting worried now. "Rachel!" he yelled out again, a twinge of panic in his voice. That's when he felt his shorts being pulled on. "Hey!" he said, slightly freaked. He spun around to see what was pulling them and his legs kicked off the lake bed. Then he felt the fabric pull away from his body completely. Finn was standing in the lake completely nude and with no idea where Rachel was. "RACHEL!" he yelled out one more time even louder than before. He knew she was responsible for the pantsing but he still had no idea where she was.

"I told you you'd pay for that," Rachel's voice called from the shore. She was swinging Finn's swim trunks around, standing there all superior. _How did she get over there?_ Finn thought to himself. "Looks like you'll have to show off a little if you want to get these back." Rachel held the trunks out then tossed them behind her onto their towels.

"You…you want…I'm naked Rachel," Finn said nervously. He had never been naked in front of Rachel. He'd never been completely naked in front of anyone, except his mom anyway and that was when he was a baby, so that didn't really count.

"I know," she said sexily. Now Finn was very confused.

"Rachel, I am very confused," he stated as Rachel made her way back over to him.

_Oh God, she's coming over here now. What the fuck am I gonna do?_

This hadn't been the plan Rachel had when Finn initially suggested going swimming. Yeah, she figured they'd make out like usual, but she truly hadn't planned on this. She was _not_ having sex with Finn here and now, that much she knew, but Rachel had an idea to help with their insecurities about being exposed in front of one another. Maybe if they _felt_ each other first, it would be easier to _see_ what they were feeling when the time came. _Maybe I'm crazy, but it's worth a try,_ Rachel thought to herself.

Once Rachel was deep enough that she could cover her chest with the water she reached behind her back and undid the clasp holding her halter top against her. She saw Finn swallow hard as she pulled the top off over her head.

"What is going on Rachel?" Finn said. He could feel his mouth and throat going very dry and he resisted the urge to take a sip of the lake water just to relieve the dry mouth.

"We're not having sex, but I thought maybe we could just…" Rachel blushed profusely at the thought of her next few words, "touch each other."

Finn went beet red and let out a nervous laugh. "You mean like _touch each other_?" he asked emphasizing the words as his eyes widened in shock.

Rachel nodded and bit her lower lip. Finn could see her shifting under the water and understood once he saw her bring her bottoms up from below the water. He gulped.

Though he did have sex with Santana that didn't exactly mean he knew what the hell he was doing. She had taken control and basically just had him lie there while she did all the work. Once he 'manned up' and left the bathroom of that crappy room, the whole process had only really taken about ten minutes, if that. Being with Rachel in this way was completely new and totally terrifying. It's not that he didn't want it, he definitely did; he just didn't want to mess it up. Rachel wasn't like Santana. She deserved perfect every time and Finn just wasn't sure he could do that yet.

"Rachel, I'm not gonna lie, I'm very nervous about this," Finn said trying to keep himself together.

"And you don't think I'm not?" Rachel squeaked out. "Finn, I'm not Santana. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm so scared that I'll mess this up and you'll think I'm just a dumb… Why are you laughing?" Rachel finished somewhat distraught. Here she was pouring out her insecurities and Finn was laughing at her!

"_You're_ worried about messing this up?" he asked incredulously. "If anyone is going to mess anything up, it's gonna be me. You deserve the best and I'm not there yet."

Rachel gave a sympathetic smile. "We're quite the pair; only concerned for the other."

Finn moved forward and took Rachel's face in his hands. "That's what I love about you. You actually care about my feelings." Finn kissed Rachel softly and pulled her flush against him. He groaned into her mouth a little as he felt her hard nipples pressed against his chest. His hand trailed from her face down her neck, over her collarbone and found its way to covering Rachel's breast completely.

As he gently massaged her breast, Rachel could feel Finn's growing erection against her lower abdomen. It startled her at first and she pulled away slightly. As she did this her chest rose above the water and Finn could see for the first time both of Rachel's boobs completely exposed.

Realizing what had happened Rachel blushed even harder and lowered her gaze from Finn's. Finally showing herself to Finn, she realized she wasn't as scared as she thought. Yes, he stared at them like they were magical, but he wasn't obnoxious about it. He actually lifted Rachel's chin so she would look at him again. "You're beautiful," he said simply as he went back in for another kiss.

"Hey you two!" a man's voice called from the shore, breaking the pair apart. They both turned to stare at the man who yelled at them. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing? Can't you read?"

Finn looked at Rachel confused. She looked at him nervously.

"The sign? It says 'No Swimming'," the man said waving his hands wildly. Finn gaped at Rachel.

"Did you see a sign?" he asked Rachel seriously. She shook her head. Neither could recall seeing a sign.

The man continued to stand there. "Well, don't just stand there! Get the hell out of the lake!"

As quickly and discreetly as she could, Rachel put her bathing suit back on. Finn was the problem now. "I'll go get your shorts," she said apologetically. This was all her fault. She made her way to the shore and as she did so the man turned on her.

"Seriously, you kids these days have no respect for anyone. Blatantly disregarding laws and rules," he huffed.

"We're very sorry, sir. Neither of us saw a 'No Swimming' sign anywhere…" Rachel said as she turned her head to where the man pointed. "Oh." Sure enough there was a 'No Swimming' sign not twenty feet from where they were standing. How had they completely missed that?

"Is lover boy going to get out too or do I need to call the authorities?"

Not bothering to respond Rachel quickly grabbed Finn's trunks and tossed them as far into the water as she could. Finn moved fast to grab them before they could sink to the bottom and both could hear the man behind them grumbling about 'kids these days'. If all this were not happening to them right now, the situation would have actually been quite funny.

Once his nether regions were finally covered Finn exited the lake and helped Rachel pack their stuff up. "You're lucky I don't call your parents and tell them you disregarded a posted sign _and_ were naked together in there. I'm sure they would not be happy to hear either of those things," the man said before finally letting them go with a warning never to do it again.

"Well, I guess I know why no one ever swims there now," Finn said as he started his truck and tore out of the area like a bat outta hell. Despite getting caught with his pants down, quite literally, Finn couldn't bring himself to regret his idea of swimming at the lake. While it lasted it had been the perfect end to the best summer ever.


	3. All Hallow's Eve's Eve's Eve

Thank you again for all your story favoriting and alerting. It really keeps me motivated to write. I truly appreciate it. So without further ado...

* * *

><p>It was Halloween, well technically it was only the 29th, but the New Directions were celebrating early since Halloween fell on a Monday. Once again Rachel's dads were out of town on a mini-vacation leaving the house empty and just waiting for the Rachel Berry House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza Part Deux to begin. While Rachel had protested against throwing such a party again, she did have to admit it had been fun. It took a little more convincing than last time to finally get her to agree, but once Rachel did, she found she was actually excited to have everyone over again.<p>

She was determined that this time around would be ever better than last time. People actually wanted to show up not just for the booze but because they actually wanted to hang out with her, she could actually make out with Finn at this party if she wanted to and Blaine would be back which Rachel was sure would mean more drunken duets. Plus, there were a few new additions to New Directions which meant even more people to enjoy the night with.

What Rachel was more excited about than anything however, were the costumes. Being Halloween they couldn't very well throw a party without it being a costume one. They had all decided to keep hush hush on what they would arrive as to keep things interesting but Rachel had found out what Finn was going as anyway. She wouldn't ever tell him this, but she wanted to be that cheesy couple that wore complementing costumes. So she coaxed it out of him by agreeing to take her shirt and bra off during their make out session in exchange for the information. His resolve to not tell her had been quite steady until the owl covered sweater popped over her head. Then he was putty.

Rachel had to do a little research after his costume confession to determine what would be best to match his. She wasn't entirely familiar with the mythology of his selection, but once she felt satisfied she had an answer, Rachel went to work on making her costume. She wanted it to be accurate but also something no one would expect from her, sexy.

Just as she finished putting on her bright red wig, Rachel heard a knock at the door. She assumed it was Puck since he said he'd be over early with the alcohol and to help set up. If she could get a reaction out of him in this costume, Rachel knew Finn would love it.

She answered the door and Puck nearly dropped the box of Bud he was carrying. "Damn girl, who are you and what have you done with Berry?" he asked as he moved into the house. Rachel shut the door behind him.

"Does it look okay? I'm not very familiar with Batman villains," she said as she brushed the wig hair out of her face. Puck eyed her up and down. She had on hunter green thigh highs and a strapless shimmery emerald green bodysuit with what looked like little vines painted onto the chest that hugged every curve perfectly and made her boobs look incredible. Her make-up was a little over the top with the bright red eye shadow that went up to her eyebrows and the deep blush that swept up her cheeks and the equally bright red lipstick, but it was Halloween so crazy make-up was expected. Puck also noticed she had the same type of little vines painted onto her chest, arms, hands and edges of her face. Then there was her wig. It looked just like Poison Ivy's from that super cheesy Batman flick with Mr. Freeze.

"You're pretty much spot on. I'm kinda surprised though. Didn't take you for one to dress as a Batman villain for Halloween," Puck said turning away from Rachel and heading into her basement to begin setting up. She followed him.

"Well, it's not my first choice, but I wanted to surprise Finn and sort of complement his costume," Rachel explained as she sat down at the bar. Puck opened the box of Bud and began putting the cans in the fridge.

"Since you're Poison Ivy, I'm gonna assume Finn is Batman?" Puck said raising his eyebrow.

Rachel shook her head in confirmation. "Where's your costume?" she asked, realizing Puck was just in jeans and a shirt.

"It's in my car. I'm gonna change once we're done setting up and no, I'm not telling you what it is yet," Puck silenced Rachel's question before she could ask it. She harrumphed slightly.

"I just want to know what everyone is coming as! It's been killing me since we decided to not tell each other." Rachel hopped off the chair and followed Puck back up the stairs. "I'd help you bring stuff in from the car but I don't really want to go outside like this. This is a strictly indoor costume."

"Whatever, why don't you turn some music on or something, it's too quiet in here," Puck said as he opened the door and went out to his car to grab more booze. Rachel ran upstairs to grab her iPod to plug it into the dock in the basement. When she got back downstairs she found she was not alone. Finn, Kurt and Blaine had arrived and let themselves into her home.

"Holy crap, Rachel!" Finn exclaimed upon seeing his girlfriend dressed as a very sexy Poison Ivy. Kurt gaped at her as well and Blaine just waved hello. "That's quite the costume."

Rachel blushed and walked up to Finn to greet him with a kiss. "I told you I had a reason for wanting to know what you were going as." She stepped back from Finn and took in his appearance. He was wearing every bit of the Batman costume except for the mask. Apparently he had difficulty seeing anything in it so he only wanted to wear it once more people showed up. After appraising her boyfriend's chiseled chest, which much to Rachel's disappointment was just a fake chest plate, she greeted Kurt and Blaine who were sitting on the couch.

"Hey guys! I love your costumes!" Blaine was dressed like a sailor and Kurt was wearing what looked like buildings all over his person. "I'm not entirely sure what you're supposed to be Kurt, but it looks interesting," Rachel offered.

"I'm New York City! See here's the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge and Times Square. I've just been so inspired by New York lately I just wanted to show off to everyone!" Kurt explained excitedly.

"Blaine you look so cute in your sailor hat!" Rachel squealed.

"Thank you. Kurt told me once he liked men in uniform so…" Blaine looked at Kurt and smiled. Kurt couldn't help but lean over and kiss his adorable face. "So Rachel, I expect another duet with you tonight!" Blaine exclaimed as he pulled away from Kurt.

"You know it!" Rachel shouted back as she left Kurt and Blaine to themselves. She wanted to see if Finn and Puck needed any help. She could hear them upstairs in her kitchen talking animatedly. "What are you two doing?"

"Did you plan on feeding people or are we just gonna feast on beer all night?" Puck asked sarcastically. "I've been looking for food and all I've found is your vegan crap."

"Calm down, Noah. I'm going to order some pizza once more people start showing up and there are chips, pretzels and plenty of candy in bowls downstairs. And my food is not crap!" Rachel huffed in annoyance.

"Whatever, I'm hungry. By the way, do you think we could crack open some of your dads' stuff? I swear I'll replace it before they get back," Puck asked hoping she'd say yes.

"I thought the point of me giving you all that money to buy alcohol was so that we wouldn't have to open my dads' stuff again?"

Puck glanced at Finn who shrugged. "Well, yeah, but your dads have awesome stuff. I didn't know I'd want it until I saw it. I replaced their stuff last time, I can do it again."

Rachel sighed in defeat. "Fine! But you better replace it!"

"Yes!" Puck fist pumped into the air like a little kid being told he could stay up an hour later to watch a movie. He walked out of the kitchen and left Rachel and Finn alone.

"He is such a child!" Rachel exclaimed.

Finn laughed. "You look amazing, Rachel; seriously, sexiest Poison Ivy ever." He leaned forward and captured her lips with his. As he tried to deepen the kiss however, Rachel pulled away.

"We'll mess up my make-up if we go any further and it took forever. I promise you though, later when no one cares, you can kiss me as much as you want," Rachel giggled grabbing Finn's hand and pulling him back towards the basement. On their way down, they heard the doorbell ring. Rachel stopped to see who was arriving next.

"Holy hell, Rachel!" Santana yelled as she entered her house, followed by Brittany and Artie. "Poison Ivy? So did not expect that."

"Thank you, Santana…I think," Rachel replied cheerily. "Finn! Puck! Artie's here!" Unfortunately, Rachel did not have an elevator in her house which meant the guys would have to help Artie get downstairs. Finn came up immediately and greeted the girls and Artie.

"A pimp, nice, and are these your ho's?" Finn joked as he waited for Puck to get his ass downstairs to help him.

"I ain't no pimp. I'm Al Capone. Totally different," Artie said with mock offence.

"And we're not ho's," Santana said through her teeth as she punched Finn in the arm.

"I'm Lord Tubbington," Brittany said dully. Finn finally noticed what they were wearing. Santana had on a rather revealing black and maroon corset with a short black puffy skirt and fishnet stockings and boots. She actually did look like a hooker but the parts that made it a costume were the big black curly wings strapped to her back and the sparkly swirls of make-up covering her face, chest and arms. Her hair was done up in a giant bun on the back of her head.

Then there was Brittany. She had on what appeared to be a fat suit covered in fur. Cat ears graced the top of her head and a little pink dot and whiskers were plastered on her nose and cheeks. On her feet were cat paw slippers and on her hands were cat paw gloves. Finn smiled. _Can't wait to see her try to get out of that later,_ he thought to himself.

"Well isn't that the most ironic sight ever," Santana said as she watched Puck saunter downstairs. He was dressed in a cop uniform which looked at least a size too small. "Planning on giving out lap dances later, Village People?"

"Eat me," he said evenly. "It was the last one they had."

"Dude, why didn't you just go as something else?" Finn asked trying so hard not burst out laughing.

"Because I have plans for this outfit tonight, dickwad. Can we just get Artie downstairs and start drinking already?" Puck grumbled as he grabbed the front of Artie's chair.

As Puck backed into the basement he heard Kurt cat-call him. "Talk about a man in uniform!" Kurt had zero interest in Puck but he had to rib him a little about how tight his pants were.

Puck flipped him off as he sat Artie down and headed over to the fridge. He really needed a beer. "Where the fuck is Lauren?" he said quietly but apparently not quietly enough.

"Ohhh, is that what this…_look_ is for?" Kurt said as he walked over to the bar and grabbed a wine cooler. Unlike at the last Rachel Berry House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza, Kurt had decided to drink. Blaine certainly had no qualms about getting sloppy in front of him, so why should Kurt have any?

"Fuck off, Kurt." Puck took a long pull from his beer and wiped his mouth with his hand after.

"You know Rachel will kill you if you try to have sex anywhere in this house, right?" Kurt proclaimed on Rachel's behalf. "You should be careful."

"Who's having sex in my house?" Rachel yelled out, walking over to Kurt. "Noah, I swear to God if you and Lauren have sex while you are here, you are never allowed over again. I will _not_ be cleaning up that mess!"

"You and Finn have sex here!" Puck countered.

Rachel's mouth dropped. "First of all, no, we don't have sex here because we haven't had sex yet! And secondly, even if we did, it's _my_ house and Finn is _my_ boyfriend. If you want sex, you can go to your own house." With that Rachel and Kurt walked off leaving Puck alone to nurse his beer.

A half hour later everyone from glee had finally arrived. Everyone's costumes were amazing. Mike and Tina showed up as Superman and Wonder Woman, Mercedes arrived as a Greek goddess, Sam showed up as a character from Avatar, Lauren arrived as a German bar maiden, Quinn showed up as Cinderella and the new kids to glee, Kyle, Marie, Riley and Trace arrived as Harry Potter, a can-can dancer, a sexy vampire and Wolverine respectively.

Almost immediately everyone began drinking. Rachel ordered their pizzas and gave the delivery guy a handsome tip because she couldn't do math very well by the time he arrived. Finn could tell the delivery guy was checking Rachel out so he made a point to kiss her in front of him to let him know she was taken. He glared at the guy as he stepped off the porch after handing the pizzas to him. Finn couldn't help it. He'd had a few by the time the guy arrived and was starting to feel it. Even sober his jealous streak could be bad, it was worse when drunk. If anyone looked at Rachel weird, they were not going to like Finn.

They headed back downstairs and announced to the room full of tipsy teenagers that food had arrived. It was like the running of the bulls to get to the greasy cheese and pepperonis. Even Rachel had to admit it smelled delicious and she never ate regular pizza. Once they had eaten, everyone immediately went back to drinking.

About an hour and a half later the Halloween decorations were nearly destroyed and everyone was sloshed. Brittany had managed to get out of her Lord Tubbington fat suit and was now running around in Artie's gangster suit jacket and not much else. Quinn was passed out on top of the bar, Mercedes's face was covered in blue from her making out with Sam on the couch and Santana's wings and fishnets were ripped to shreds from mackin' on Riley so hard. Kurt and Finn sat on the floor giggling about something no one else found funny, Artie was patting Marie's back as she vomited into the washing machine, Tina and Mike were slow dancing to whatever song was playing, Kyle was now in his underwear just staring longingly at Quinn sleeping on the bar while Trace was sitting in the corner just staring into the wall. Puck and Lauren were nowhere to be found.

"Blaine! Where's my Blainey, Blaine?" Rachel called out as she crawled across the floor to where Blaine lay spread eagle staring at the ceiling. "Blaine, we gotta sing! Come on, Blaine!"

He sat up unceremoniously and blurrily looked around the room. His eyes landed on Rachel's face. "Oh hey, Rachel! Wha's goin' on?"

"Come on!" Rachel yelled, standing up wobbly, trying to pull Blaine with her. Eventually he stood up and zigzagged his way toward the stage. Rachel found her microphones and handed one to Blaine. She found the music she wanted but before hitting play had to make an announcement.

"How's everyone doin' tonight?" Rachel yelled into her microphone startling everyone. It was turned up much louder than she expected. "Everyone havin' fun?" The group cheered and whistled and clapped. "I just wanted to tell you all thank you so, so, so, so, so much for coming to my party! This one is so much better this year because we have new members with us and we're all dressed up and I have a boyfriend again!" Rachel cheered and threw her fist in the air. "This song is for you, Finn," she purred into the microphone in what she thought was a sexy voice. Finn stared at Rachel looking like he wanted to cry.

Rachel hit play and the opening to Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now rang throughout the basement. She danced around stage to the beat as Blaine started singing.

_Lookin' in your eyes I see a paradise  
><em>_This world that I found is too good to be true  
><em>_Standin' here beside you want so much to give you  
><em>_This love in my heart that I'm feeling for you_

Blaine stared at Kurt the entire time he sang his verse, trying to convey everything he felt for him despite being very drunk. Then it was Rachel's turn.

_Let 'em say 'We're crazy', I don't care about that  
><em>_Put your hand in my hand, baby, don't ever look back  
><em>_Let the world around us just fall apart  
><em>_Baby, we can make it if we're heart to heart_

Though the song was very cheesebucket, Rachel felt the sentiment behind it. Even being intoxicated, she knew the lyrics' meaning and knew that it applied to her and Finn. Then the chorus came and Rachel and Blaine sang together.

_And we can build this dream together, standing strong forever  
><em>_Nothing's gonna stop us now  
><em>_And if this world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other  
><em>_Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us now  
><em>_Ohh, whoa, ohh_

Then Blaine sang to Kurt again.

_I'm so glad I found you, I'm not gonna lose you  
><em>_Whatever it takes I will stay here with you  
><em>_Take it to the good times, see it through the bad times  
><em>_Whatever it takes is what I'm gonna do_

Once again it was Rachel's verse. This time she moved from the stage and made her way over to Finn. She tried pulling him up so he'd dance with her but he was way too heavy and she was way too drunk. Finally he got the hint though and stood on his own.

_Let 'em say 'We're crazy', what do they know?  
><em>_Put your arms around me, baby, don't ever let go  
><em>_Let the world around us just fall apart  
><em>_Baby we can make it if we're heart to heart_

The chorus played again and Rachel noticed that the others were joining in. They were all holding someone and swaying to the beat. Rachel and Blaine, having the microphones, were the loudest and they belted out the song together.

_And we can build this dream together, standing strong forever  
><em>_Nothing's gonna stop us now  
><em>_And if this world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other  
><em>_Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us now  
><em>_All that I need is you  
><em>_All that I ever needed and all that I want to do  
><em>_Is hold you forever, forever and ever_

The chorus repeated three more times but by the end of it neither Blaine nor Rachel really cared about the song. They were much too busy making out with their boyfriends. That was until Finn grabbed Rachel's bedazzled microphone and made his way to the stage. He flipped through Rachel's iPod and found the song he had wanted to sing to Rachel for forever.

The beat pounded out of the speakers and Finn started low just staring at his girlfriend. She looked at him like he was a rock star.

_I gotta take a little time  
><em>_A little time to think things over  
><em>_I better read between the lines  
><em>_In case I need it when I'm older  
><em>_Aaaahh whoa-ah-aah  
><em>_Now this mountain I must climb  
><em>_Feels like a world upon my shoulders  
><em>_And through the clouds I see love shine  
><em>_It keeps me warm as life grows colder  
><em>_In my life there's been heartache and pain  
><em>_I don't know if I can face it again  
><em>_Can't stop now, I've traveled so far  
><em>_To change this lonely life_

Foreigner's I Want To Know What Love Is had been dancing around in Finn's mind for ages. He felt the chorus especially summed up how he felt about Rachel. He wanted to know love with only her and he wanted her to show him all of her love. Finn knew it was a little cheesy but music had always helped him in the past with expressing himself.

_I wanna know what love is  
><em>_I want you to show me  
><em>_I wanna feel what love is  
><em>_I know you can show me  
><em>_Aaaahh whoa-ah-aah  
><em>_I'm gonna take a little time  
><em>_A little time to look around me  
><em>_I've got nowhere left to hide  
><em>_It looks like love has finally found me_

Finn began belting out the song like he was on a stage surrounded by thousands of screaming fans instead of just a bunch of his drunk friends. He felt alive in that moment singing his heart out to Rachel.

_In my life there's been heartache and pain  
><em>_I don't know if I can face it again  
><em>_Can't stop now, I've traveled so far  
><em>_To change this lonely life  
><em>_I wanna know what love is  
><em>_I want you to show me  
><em>_I wanna feel what love is  
><em>_I know you can show me_

Before Finn could even finish the song Rachel hopped up on stage and practically tackled him. She kissed him mercilessly and the microphone fell from his hand as he picked Rachel up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Everyone cheered them on as if they were at a football game instead of watching their friends grope each other on a small stage in a basement.

Through her drunken haze Rachel could vaguely tell what was going on. She untangled her legs from around Finn and pulled her mouth from his. He was aggravated by the loss of contact but followed Rachel when she gripped his hand and pulled him through the basement and up the stairs. They didn't stop until they reached her empty room.

Finn was very out of it but something inside told him that things were about to get very good. His cheeks flushed at the thought and he felt very warm all over. "I gotta get this thing off," he mumbled as Rachel shoved him back onto her bed. His costume was so hot and he could feel his underwear and t-shirt sticking to him grossly.

"Rach, I gotta…" he trailed off as Rachel pulled him up and helped unzip the back of his costume. She peeled it off of him then threw it against her wall knocking things off her desk. Once he was down to nothing at all Rachel proceeded to peel her own costume off only leaving her thigh highs on.

The wig was the hard part. In order to keep it on, no less than 20 bobby pins had to be used and now it was coming back to haunt her. "Stupid wig!" Rachel said angrily pulling at the synthetic hair on her head. Finally she ripped it off her head. She'd deal with the bobby pins later; her head was just so hot.

Finn stared at Rachel's naked body with an extra goofy grin on his face. "You're _soooo_ pretty, Rach," he said slurring slightly. Rachel pushed Finn back onto her bed forcefully and straddled him. Slowly she leaned down and kissed Finn hard, shoving her tongue into his mouth. Finn moaned in pleasure and ran his hands down Rachel's sides until he reached her bare ass. He gripped her hard and she pulled away from him, sat up, and smiled wickedly.

Before she could over think it and stop herself, Rachel shimmied down Finn until she was comfortably between his legs, her head hovering over his hips. If Finn didn't have a hard on before, he certainly did now; seeing his girlfriend that close to his junk was turning him on so hard. Then he felt her hand wrap around him. "Oh GOD!" he practically screamed out, his head falling back against the bed. He could feel Rachel moving her hand up and down his shaft, stroking him gently. Then he looked down just in time to watch Rachel take his tip into her mouth. He was so happy he was drunk because if he wasn't he had a feeling he'd have come right then.

She licked his tip like she was eating a lollipop and just sucked on him lightly tasting his skin. Wanting to view the effect she was having on her boyfriend, Rachel looked up and couldn't help but smile. Finn was staring at her, mouth agape, just not believing what was happening to him. He was getting his first blowjob ever.

Before diving in and taking his whole length into her mouth, Rachel licked the underside of his penis from the base to the tip then opened her mouth wide and took in as much as she could. She idly thought if this was what Ms. Pillsbury was referring to when she said not having a gag reflex would be a gift.

Drunk or no, Finn could feel himself getting ready to explode now. He tried signaling Rachel that he was about to blow his load but she wasn't paying attention. Before he could stop himself, he released into her mouth.

Rachel balked a bit as the sticky substance assaulted her buds but once she understood what happened, she didn't really mind. Honestly, it didn't taste all that bad and it slid down her throat easily. It was gone in two swallows. She sat up releasing Finn from her mouth and moved up his body to kiss him. Only when she got to his head she heard him snoring and noticed he was passed out cold. "Of course," she mumbled to herself.

Unable to turn him so he was lying on her bed in the right direction, Rachel grabbed a pillow and placed it under his head. She then went over to her hope chest, grabbed a spare blanket and draped it over Finn's giant sleeping form. She grabbed her own pillow and cozied up next to her unconscious boyfriend under the blanket. The skin-on-skin contact felt so nice as she ran her hand over his chest. Her hand stopped on his beating heart and she couldn't help but move her ear to the spot to just listen to its steady rhythm.

Rachel let the sound of Finn's heartbeat lull her to sleep, happy and content with everything in her life. When she woke up next to him a few hours later however, she had a raging hangover and a scary looking man standing in front of her bed.

"Hi, Dad," she said uneasily knowing she was in for a world of trouble.

* * *

><p>Uh oh! Caught in the act...again.<p> 


	4. Tofurkey Can't Gobble

It was Thanksgiving and the only reason Rachel and Finn were allowed to spend it together was because the Hummel-Hudson household had invited the Berrys' three over for Thanksgiving dinner. Rachel and Finn hadn't spent any time alone together since the disastrously ending Rachel Berry House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza Part Deux.

Even though it killed Rachel not to be able to spend any time with Finn outside of school and glee for almost an entire month, she understood her parents' anger. If she ever came home early from what had been a horrendous mini-vacation to discover her daughter naked in bed with her boyfriend, she probably would not be too happy either. It did not help both that her basement was full of passed out teenagers and her fathers' bed had an equally naked and passed out Puck and Lauren in it. Rachel could have strangled Puck for disobeying her direct order not to have sex anywhere in her house. It was especially awful that it had been in her dads' room.

She was also completely mortified when her dad ripped Finn out of bed while he was still asleep and began tearing him a new one as he stood there in her room buck naked. Covering herself with her blanket as best she could, Rachel tried to pry her dad off Finn and tried to explain it was not what it looked like. Her attempt did not work and she and Finn were separated. As punishment, Rachel was to go straight home after school and no one was allowed over until further notice. After the incident, Rachel's dads paid much closer attention to her.

Rachel was so grateful that her fathers were allowing her to spend the day with Finn. True they wouldn't be alone, but at least it was time together. She missed him more than she ever thought possible. Phone calls and texts were just not cutting it anymore.

They stood outside the Hummel-Hudson house waiting patiently for someone to answer the door. Rachel was nervous. This was the first time her dads would really be spending quality time with Burt and Carole. They had met previously and seemed friendly enough with each other, but they had never really conversed before. She was also worried that her dad might comment on what happened at Halloween. Burt and Carole knew about it because her dad had made a point of telling them and promising them that if it ever happened again Finn would be coming home missing a certain body part, but she didn't exactly want to relive that horror.

Finally the door opened. "Rachel! Leroy, Hiram, welcome! Come on in," Carole greeted cheerily as she waved them into the house.

"Hello Mrs. Hummel. Happy Thanksgiving!" Rachel replied.

"Don't Mrs. Hummel me. How many times have I told you to call me Carole? What do you have there?" Carole said as she took what Rachel had been carrying.

"I made pumpkin and apple pie. I asked Finn if there was anything I could bring and he suggested dessert. He loves my baked goods." Rachel smiled as she unbuttoned her coat and hung it on the rack. Leroy and Hiram followed suit.

Carole laughed. "Yes, I've heard. He's been raving about your banana bread for over a year. I'm glad to finally get to try some of your baking for myself. The kid never leaves me any to try!"

The four of them walked into the living room. Burt and Finn were watching a football game and yelling at the television.

"This can't be happening! How the hell is Detroit killing Green Bay right now? Did the team sell their souls or something?" Burt said exasperatedly. He finally noticed the newcomers. "Oh, hello," he said as he stood up to greet Leroy and Hiram with a handshake. "It's nice to see you again."

For some reason the room was filled with a very awkward tension. "Please, sit," Finn said as he stood up from the couch and motioned for Leroy and Hiram to sit. He walked over to Rachel and gave her a quick peck as a greeting. It felt really awkward to kiss her in front of their parents after what happened.

"Well, I'm going to go put these in the kitchen," Carole said as she made to exit the living room. "Finn, you wanna tell Kurt to come downstairs?"

"Yeah, I'll get him." Finn grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her along with him. As he did so he couldn't help notice Leroy glaring at him. Ever since Leroy found Rachel and him naked in her bed, Finn felt like he had been placed on a hit list. Finn feared the day that he and Leroy ended up in a room alone together. He only hoped there would be a body left for his parents to bury.

As Rachel and Finn made it to the second floor, Rachel spoke. "Is it just me or was that the most awkward moment ever?"

"So it's not just me. Rach, I think your dad wants to kill me."

"He doesn't want to kill you. He just wants to castrate you if you ever touch me again," Rachel said simply. Her words did nothing to comfort Finn.

"Oh, that's all?" he said sarcastically. "I'd really like to keep my…business. We'll need it when we're ready to have kids." Finn turned away from Rachel but still held her hand as they made their way toward Kurt's room. Rachel smiled at his words. It never failed to make her a little warm under the collar when Finn mentioned children. There was something innately hot about him talking about being the father of her children.

They reached Kurt's door and Finn knocked loudly. "Come in!" they heard from inside the room. Finn opened the door and walked in, Rachel following.

"Dinner's almost ready. Mom wants you to come downstairs," Finn said simply.

Kurt looked up from his Vogue and noticed Rachel standing next to his brother. "Oh, hello Rachel. I didn't realize you were here. Has your dad tried to chop Finn's balls off yet?"

"Not yet, but it's still early." Rachel and Kurt laughed. Finn didn't find any humor in it at all.

The trio made their way back downstairs and upon entering the living room, they felt that the awkward tension had melted away. Rachel's dads seemed to be getting along with Burt quite well. Rachel even noticed her daddy yelling at the TV as Detroit scored another touchdown. He didn't even like football.

Finn moved to join them but before he could Rachel tugged his arm to gain his attention. "I'm going to see if your mom needs any help in the kitchen. Enjoy your game! Go Tampa Bay!" Rachel exclaimed, pumping her fist a little.

"Um, Rach, it's Green Bay," Finn said, chuckling slightly at Rachel's mistake.

"Whatever, just go enjoy your game," she said as she gently shoved Finn in the direction of the couch. She found her way into the kitchen and immediately asked Carole what she could do to help.

"Honestly sweetie, there's not much else to be done. Maybe you could just help me carry the dishes out to the table?" she suggested. Rachel shook her head and grabbed the mashed potatoes.

"You have enough food here for an army!" Rachel said as she followed Carole into the dining room. The table was set with the nicest china Carole owned and her grandmother's finest silverware.

"Well, there are seven of us, but we have to add at least two to that because of Finn. I swear he had to have been born with two stomachs or something," Carole joked as she placed the sweet potatoes on the table. She did have a point though. Finn had a very healthy appetite. "Oh and sweetie, I made sure everything was vegan, well, Kurt made sure. Except the turkey of course. I did get a small tofurkey for you. I asked your father if you'd eat that and he said yes."

"Oh Carole, that was so thoughtful of you. You really didn't have to. I could have just had the sides," Rachel said, her heart warming at Carole's kindness.

"Nonsense! It's not Thanksgiving without turkey…or tofurkey." Carole smiled at Rachel. They heard all the men cheer loudly in the living room. "I'm guessing the Packers scored."

Just then Kurt entered the kitchen. "There is way too much testosterone in that room to handle right now. Rachel, I had no idea your dads were into football."

"They aren't really. I'm very surprised that they're as invested in the game as they are," Rachel explained as she grabbed the carrots and headed back into the dining room.

"So, do you know when your grounding will finally be over? I've been itching to have another diva sleepover," Kurt asked following Rachel back into the kitchen.

She gave him a warning expression. Rachel didn't want to discuss her grounding in front of Carole. It just brought up thoughts about why she was grounded. Kurt stared at her waiting for an answer. "I don't know, Kurt. You'll be second to know when it's over, after Finn of course."

"Do you plan on jumping Finn once it's over? You have been apart for almost a month."

"Kurt!" Rachel practically screamed. She glanced at Carole to gauge her reaction. She had definitely heard him. Then Carole surprised her.

"Rachel, it's okay. I know how serious you and Finn are. I'm not dumb and I was a teenager once. I know you two will want to…explore each other," Carole said to Rachel and Kurt's horror. Rachel couldn't believe this was happening; Kurt and his big mouth. Carole walked over to Rachel and placed her hand on her arm comfortingly. "I'm just begging you, please use protection. I've already thought Finn was going to be a teenage father once. We dodged a bullet with that one fortunately. I really do not want to go through it again."

Rachel tried speaking but found no words coming to her. Her throat was too dry to get them out anyway. She tried clearing her throat. "I…I, uh, trust me Carole, I want to be a teenage mother just about as much as Kurt wants to date a woman. I am by no means ready for that responsibility. I promise that when the time comes Finn and I will take every precaution possible, but we won't be engaging in intercourse anytime soon." This was the most awkward conversation Rachel had ever had.

Carole smiled and hugged Rachel tightly. "I like you, Rachel. I know you and Finn have had your problems in the past but I'm so glad you worked through them. You're good for him and I know you treat him right." Carole pulled away from Rachel and grabbed the final dish that needed to be placed on the table.

Rachel beamed. Carole said she liked her and that she was good for Finn. She didn't think there was a greater compliment a mother could give her son's girlfriend. Rachel walked out into the dining room and watched Carole place the turkey on the table. The table looked amazing. The colors were so festive and all the food looked absolutely delicious.

Carole walked into the living room and announced that dinner was ready. They left the TV on to be able to hear if anything interesting happened. The game was nearly over and the Packers were still down by two touchdowns. Burt seriously hoped that they could turn it around and take the lead.

Everyone took their seats and before allowing anyone to grab food, Kurt made an announcement. He stood up. "Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'd like to thank Rachel and Mr. and Mr. Berry for agreeing to join us despite the Halloween incident." Rachel glanced at her fathers quickly and bit her lip.

_Why does Kurt keep bringing that up?_ Rachel thought, annoyed.

"Anyway, I thought before we eat we could go around the table and say something we're thankful for. I'll start. I'm thankful that I was able to find some amazing deals on designer labels online this season and for my boyfriend Blaine, who sadly could not join us this evening and, of course, for my family and friends." Kurt finished, raised his glass to everyone then sat back down.

Burt was next. He stood up. "Like my son, I'm thankful for my family and for not having a heart attack this year." Everyone at the table clapped as Burt bowed a little before sitting down.

"I'm thankful for having a wonderful husband and two wonderful sons. I'm also thankful that both my sons have wonderful significant others in their lives," Carole said smiling at Burt, Kurt, Finn and Rachel. Finn looked at Rachel and smiled. He grabbed her hand and squeezed.

It was Leroy's turn. "I'm so thankful for Hiram and Rachel. You two mean the world to me." Hiram looked at his daughter and partner and expressed a similar thankfulness.

The table looked at Rachel. She had so much to be thankful for this year. Glee club had made it to Nationals, she had written an original song that helped them get there, she met Patti freaking LuPone, she had true friends now, she had a loving family, and she had Finn. Rachel decided to keep it simple though. "I'm thankful for everyone at this table. You all mean so much to me." She looked at Finn and he gave her his lopsided grin.

Finn surprisingly was the one to make the long speech. "When this year started out, I didn't think it was going to be all that special. I wasn't exactly in a good place then." He looked at Rachel and she couldn't help but feel guilty. "I didn't exactly make the best choices either, but somehow through all the drama and bad decisions, everything got better than it had been before. The football team won the conference championship, glee made it to Nationals, I got to go to New York City, I took part in the Kiss of the Century and I got the girl." Finn looked at Rachel happily. "So I'm thankful for all that and for all of you." Finn glanced around the table and smiled at everyone.

"Okay, so that's everyone. Let's eat!" Burt said quickly. He pulled the turkey towards him and began carving it. Everyone else dug into the side dishes and the conversation turned to the game.

As they all chewed their food and held various conversations, Rachel just looked around at everyone at the table. This was her family now. She couldn't imagine her life without a single one of them in it and she knew that every Thanksgiving after this one would be just the same. Just her family, all thankful for each other.


	5. Two For One Holiday Specials

So I hope my timing is correct when it comes to which day of Hanukkah falls on Christmas. As I was researching it I kept confusing myself. If I'm incorrect let me know and I'll fix it immediately.

* * *

><p>It was Christmas at the Hummel-Hudson house and Finn was beyond stoked. Last Christmas had been so awkward and painful that Finn couldn't help but practically jump for joy that this year had gone so much better. The glee club sang carols again to raise money for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youth Program and actually made quite a bit more than the year prior. They didn't even get a shoe thrown at them this year. Rachel had tagged along when Burt and Carol asked Finn to pick up a tree and the experience didn't end with Finn officially breaking up with Rachel and leaving her stranded at the Christmas tree farm. Looking back on it, Finn realized that had been a dick move even if he was mad at Rachel. He apologized for it but Rachel just brushed it off. This year Rachel had spent the entire day with Finn's family.<p>

Being Jewish, Rachel didn't normally celebrate Christmas but now that Finn was a major part of her life, she knew that would forever change. She could imagine it all, sitting by a colorfully decorated tree in her New York City apartment, all her Tony awards lined up on a shelf, Finn dressing up as Santa for their children and watching them open presents. Sure they'd be Jewish, but she'd let them have Christmas too. It wouldn't be fair to Finn not to celebrate his favorite holiday with them.

But she was getting ahead of herself. In the present she was sitting on the couch in Finn's living room watching her boyfriend tear his present open with a vigor she could only call maniacal. He looked like a little boy just staring in awe at the three video games he just unwrapped.

"Thanks Rach! I've wanted these games for forever," Finn said as he leaned over to hug his girlfriend. She reciprocated in earnest and smiled brightly at him.

"Well I have to be honest; Puck did mention you'd been dying to get your hands on them. I wanted to go with this adorable hunter green puffy vest and plaid shirt I found, but he assured me you'd prefer the games," Rachel explained.

Finn smiled at his girlfriend. "I'd have liked any gift you gave me. It's the thought that counts really, but I really did want this game. Thank you so much."

"Rachel, this fedora is exquisite. How did you know just what to get me?" Kurt said as he opened the hat box containing his new satin black hat.

"I saw you eyeing it when we went shopping at the mall last week. You're so difficult to shop for Kurt, but I'm glad I caught you staring longingly at it. I was honestly surprised you didn't buy it when you first saw it." Rachel hugged Kurt as he sat down on the couch next to her.

Kurt sighed. "It was either this or those fantastic boots I nearly died over. I went with the boots. It was so hard leaving behind this hat though. Thank you so much for noticing my agonizing over my decision." He stood up from the couch. "I'm going to see how dinner is coming. Be back in a minute."

Finn stood up from the couch. "I'll be right back. I have something for you Rachel."

"Finn, just because there are eight days of Hanukkah doesn't mean you have to give me a gift every day." Her words fell on deaf ears however as Finn was already up the stairs.

This year the sixth day of Hanukkah and Christmas happened to fall at the same time. Rachel had protested for the last five days to Finn giving her a gift every day, but every day he insisted. They weren't big gifts, just little things like a new journal and pen set, some cute knee socks which Rachel figured Kurt had something to do with, a five color nail polish set (again Kurt), a refill Bedazzler kit (also Kurt) and a three pack of brightly colored headbands. Finn knew just how much Rachel adored her headbands. She _had_ written an entire song about them. Rachel wondered what he'd give her tonight.

Finn came back downstairs carrying two packages, one wrapped in blue paper covered in menorahs and one in red and green reindeer covered paper. He had bought her a Christmas gift too. Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You really did not need to buy me a gift for every night and for Christmas," she said as he sat down and handed her the presents.

"I know, but I wanted to," he said as he kissed her nose. "Open 'em!"

Rachel opened the Hanukkah gift first. It was a sparkly pink iPod cover. Rachel's dads had just given her the latest iPod Touch so Finn's gift was perfectly timed. She thanked Finn and turned her attention to the Christmas gift. She unwrapped the small box and inside was a beautiful silver charm bracelet. So far it had two charms on it: a small gold star and a silver R.

Rachel looked like she wanted to cry. "Thank you, Finn. It's beautiful." She hugged him tightly but as she pulled away, Finn pulled another box out from behind his back. "Really Finn? Another present?"

"I wasn't sure if you'd want this charm on there or not so I thought I'd save it." He opened the box and inside was a silver F. Rachel beamed at him.

"Of course I want it on there!" Rachel exclaimed. Finn pulled the F charm out of the box and clipped it onto the bracelet then put the bracelet around Rachel's wrist as she excitedly watched him. She lifted her arm and toyed with the charms momentarily before leaning in to give Finn a kiss. "This really is all too much," she murmured against his lips.

"I don't think so. You deserve it all," Finn said before pressing his lips to Rachel's again. Their kiss was interrupted however when Kurt walked back into the room.

"Dinner is ready. My God, do you two ever stop sucking face? You both just got off your groundings a few weeks ago. Slow down!" Kurt huffed.

Finn pulled away from Rachel and shot Kurt a judgmental look. "Really? Coming from the guy I caught in the laundry room about ready to get on his knees?"

Kurt blushed profusely. "At least I wasn't caught naked and bitched at by Blaine's father. Oh how I'd love to have seen Leroy go crazy on you," Kurt said as he narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"Can we just stop talking about that? It's embarrassing and I'd rather not relive it every single time I end up in a room with you two bickering," Rachel said.

"Fine. Dinner is ready. Let's go," Kurt said as he stormed off toward the kitchen.

Rachel sighed. "I guess this is my cue to leave. I need to get home for dinner with my dads and to prepare for lighting the candles." She stood up and headed towards the front door, Finn following behind her. She put on her coat, hat and gloves and grabbed her giant bag that she had brought with her to carry everyone's presents and turned to face Finn.

"Thank you again for my presents. They're lovely. I love you," Rachel said as she went up onto her tip toes to kiss Finn goodbye. Before she opened the door to leave however, she paused. "You know, I actually have another gift for you."

Finn looked confused. Rachel pulled a rather large box out of her rather large bag and handed it to Finn. There was an envelope taped to the front with his name on it.

"You can wait until after dinner to open it in your room." Rachel gave him another quick peck. "Merry Christmas, Finn. I love you."

"I love you too, Rach," Finn replied as he waved goodbye. He closed the door and placed the box on the stairs. He'd run it up after he was done eating.

Once dinner was finished and he helped clear the table, Finn grabbed the box on the stairs and ran up to his room. He plopped down on his bed and tore the envelope off the box.

Inside the envelope was a short letter from Rachel. It read:

_My darling Finn,_

_Merry Christmas! I know it's your favorite holiday so I wanted to make it extra special for you this year. I have another gift to give you but it requires that you come over to my house tomorrow around 11 am. I'll also need you to wear what is this box. It is imperative that you do so. I love you so much. I'll see you tomorrow!_

_Forever yours,_

_Rachel*_

Finn's interest was piqued. What exactly did Rachel need him to wear? He opened the box and took in the outfit. He shook his head. What the hell did Rachel have planned?

* * *

><p>What's this? A cliffhanger? :O Don't worry, the next chapter should be worth all the antici-<p> 


	6. Been An Awful Good Girl Or Have I?

PATION! Man, I was holding that rest forever. lol Anyway here's the exciting conclusion to Finn and Rachel's first Christmas! Also a quick note about the song, I used the lyrics to Marilyn Monroe's version but in my mind I set the tempo to Madonna's version. Either rendition would work though, it doesn't really affect the plot. I just wanted to put that out there though.

* * *

><p>It was the next day at 10:57 am. Finn pulled into Rachel's driveway and shut off his truck. He really hoped she'd answer the door quickly. While it wasn't the most embarrassing outfit he'd ever worn, he didn't exactly need any neighbors that were home to be gawking at him.<p>

He got out of his car and jogged up to Rachel's front door quickly. There was a note taped to it telling him to come in, lock the door and head straight up to Rachel's room. He complied with the note. As he stood outside Rachel's door, he wondered what exactly she had planned. Slowly he pushed it open and was shocked at what he saw.

What looked like hundreds of paper snowflakes were scattered about Rachel's room and a little Christmas tree sat on her desk. Icicle lights hung around the walls giving the room a soft glow and in the center of it all lying on the bed was Rachel dressed in what appeared to be a sexy elf costume.

Rachel swung her legs off her bed and sat up to face Finn. She stood up and sauntered over to him, pulled him further into her room and shut the door. Finn was in awe of what was going on around him.

"I'm glad to see you were on time, Santa Claus," Rachel said as she appraised Finn in the Santa Claus costume she had told him to wear. The only piece he didn't have on was the big white beard. Rachel didn't want to have to deal with more synthetic hair after her last experience with it.

Finn looked at Rachel, mouth agape. She wore red and white striped thigh highs, a very mini green skirt with red trim and a bustier to match. Perched on her head was a green elf's hat with red trim and a little bell attached to the point. She looked adorable and insanely sexy at the same time.

"Rach, what's going on exactly?" Finn asked as he glanced around the room again. Rachel took his hand and pulled him toward her bed. She pushed on his shoulders to sit him down on the edge and stood directly in front of him. Finn had a fantastic view of Rachel's pushed up boobs at that angle.

"Well Santa, I did say I have one more gift for you," Rachel said as she moved to her iPod dock. "So sit back and watch your little elf work." She hit play and the opening of Santa Baby started. Rachel started singing.

_Santa baby, just slip a sable under the tree for me  
><em>_Been an awful good girl  
><em>_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight_

Finn could not believe what was happening to him. Rachel was singing him Santa Baby dressed as a sexy elf. He now had a feeling he knew where all this was leading to. Rachel was giving him a lap dance for Christmas.

_Santa baby, a '54 convertible too, light blue  
><em>_I'll wait up for you dear  
><em>_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight  
><em>_Think of all the fun I've missed  
><em>_Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed  
><em>_Next year I could be just as good  
><em>_If you check off my Christmas list_

As Rachel sang the song in a very cutesy yet sexy way, she danced around in front of Finn. It was kinda like the Christmas talent show scene or whatever in that stupid Lindsay Lohan movie Quinn had forced him to watch about the mean girls. He couldn't remember what it was called at the moment though.

_Santa baby, I want a yacht and really that's not a lot  
><em>_Been an angel all year  
><em>_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight  
><em>_Santa honey, one little thing I really need, the deed  
><em>_To a platinum mine  
><em>_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight  
><em>_Santa cutie, and fill my stocking with a duplex and checks  
><em>_Sign your X on the line  
><em>_Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight_

The whole time Rachel was singing the song she kept making sex eyes at him and touching her body in a way that had Finn thinking about every postal worker in the world being hit by Mack trucks instead of just the usual one being hit by his mom's car. As Rachel sang the next verse she very sexily undid her skirt at the side and let it fall to the floor revealing her candy cane covered panties. There weren't enough mailmen getting hit by any mode of transportation to keep his erection from popping up painfully.

_Come and trim my Christmas tree  
><em>_With some decorations bought at Tiffany  
><em>_I_ _really do believe in you  
><em>_Let's see if you believe in me  
><em>_Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring  
><em>_I don't mean on the phone  
><em>_Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight_

The song was finishing up when Rachel stalked forward and placed her knees on either side of Finn's thighs straddling him. She placed her hand on Finn's chest and leaned forward forcing him back onto the bed as she sang the last two lines of the song.

_Hurry down the chimney tonight  
><em>_Hurry…tonight_

When the music cut off, Rachel nuzzled her nose against Finn's and whispered Merry Christmas then gently kissed him. She pulled away and smiled at him.

"Thank you for my gift. I _really_ liked it," Finn stated, grinning like an idiot.

"I can tell that," Rachel replied as she made a point of grinding her hips against his very prominent erection. Finn groaned in response. "As glad as I am that you enjoyed my little performance that actually wasn't the gift." Rachel bit her lip.

Finn raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's the gift then?"

Rachel leaned forward again and placed her lips at his ear. "My virginity," she whispered slowly. She felt Finn's entire body stiffen under her and heard his breath hitch. She drew her head back and stared at his shocked expression. Finn had been wrong about the lap dance. This was even better.

"Are you serious, Rachel?" he asked, moving to sit up. Rachel leaned back and allowed Finn sit upright again. He just stared at her.

"Deadly. I've given this a lot of thought over the past few weeks and I've come to the conclusion that I'm ready. I love you Finn and it killed me not being able to kiss you or touch you or even _see_ you over the month and a half I was grounded. I don't want to waste anymore time not being with you in that way. I'm ready. I know I am," Rachel explained.

Finn took in everything Rachel had said and seemed satisfied that she was really serious. This was really going to happen. He was finally going to have sex with Rachel Berry. He just hoped he wouldn't mess up and let her down. But a thought crossed his mind. "What about being 25 and Tony awards?"

"After much thought, I've determined that those expectations are rather unrealistic. I still plan on winning Tony awards and we're not having children until after we're married and at least 25, but we can and should have sex before then. I will not be able to make it another eight years without jumping your bones."

Finn grinned at this response. Then another more terrifying thought came to him. "What about your dads?" He glanced around the room like they were going to pop out and beat the shit out of him at any second.

"They're at work until five. We have the house to ourselves and plenty of alone time," Rachel assured her freaked out boyfriend.

Before Finn could awkwardly voice his next question as to how they would go about kicking things off, Rachel took the lead and unclasped her bustier. She pulled it from her body and let it drop to the floor. She glued her lips to Finn's and leaned forward forcing Finn to lie back on the bed again. He ran his hands over her silky smooth bare skin and moved his hands under the waist of her panties as he reached it. He gripped her bare ass and Rachel moaned into his mouth.

Much to Finn's chagrin, Rachel removed her mouth from his and sat up. She took her elf hat off and pulled Finn's hands out from her panties. Rachel got off him and stood in front of him again. She gripped the elastic of her panties and pushed them down, letting them pool around her ankles. Finn's eyes moved directly to the freshly revealed area of skin and he licked his lips quickly. Rachel blushed as she felt herself become very wet. All she had on now were the thigh highs. Rachel had never felt more exposed and vulnerable.

Rachel crawled back onto the bed lying behind Finn waiting for him to make the next move. Finn stood up and just stared at her naked form. She stared back at him through her lashes, biting her lip and running her hands over her pert breasts. Every so often she'd roll her nipples between her fingers and pull on them a little while she rubbed her legs together in a seductive way. Finn couldn't believe this was reality.

"I have condoms in that drawer right there," Rachel said as she pointed to the side table her iPod dock was on. Finn opened the drawer and pulled the box out. He removed one from it then threw the rest of the ream onto the table. They might need more later on if everything went well the first time.

Finn unbuttoned the Santa jacket and made to remove it but Rachel stopped him. "I want you to wear the jacket, but you can take the t-shirt underneath off," she said smiling innocently. Finn pulled his t-shirt off and put the jacket back on then removed his shoes, socks and Santa pants and hat. He stood there in boxers covered in Christmas trees - Rachel had even picked out the underwear she wanted him to wear - and the Santa jacket. He was beyond nervous now. Trying not to let embarrassment sweep through him, Finn dropped his boxers. Rachel gasped slightly at the sight.

Despite having felt Finn through his pants numerous times, giving him a few handjobs during some of their more heated moments and giving him a blowjob on Halloween, Rachel had never _really_ seen Finn's penis. She was much too drunk the night of her party and her memories were far too fuzzy for her to really remember what it had looked like and the next morning, even though he was naked, Rachel hadn't really been paying attention to that particular part of his anatomy as she tried to keep her dad from strangling the love of her life.

Staring at him in his mostly naked glory now, Rachel was somewhat concerned. She had never realized just how…large Finn was. Seeing and feeling were two very different things and now she could _see_ that she was really going to _feel_it. She gulped nervously.

Rachel's breathing was shallow and ragged as Finn moved to join her on the bed. She knew she was ready but she still couldn't help being nervous. You could only lose your virginity once; this moment would be one of the most important events in her life.

Finn lay next to her on his side. Rachel turned to face him straight on and he wrapped an arm around her torso and pulled her close to him. He kissed her gently and slowly at first then flicked his tongue against her lips. Rachel opened her mouth to allow him entry and their tongues met in the middle.

She placed her hand on Finn's cheek and pulled at his head to try to get even closer to him. He tightened his grip on Rachel's body and she could feel his erection against her thigh. He felt very hard and Rachel wondered if it was painful to feel that way. Not wanting him to have to wait any longer, Rachel pulled away and rolled onto her back.

"I'm ready, Finn," she said simply, staring at him. Finn shook his head in agreement and ripped open the foil wrapper, careful not to tear the latex. He rolled the condom onto his throbbing member and pushed himself up to place himself over Rachel.

Finn hovered over his girlfriend and just looked at her face. He could tell she was nervous but he could see the determination there as well. She really was ready for this. He had learned from Ms. Holliday in Sex Education not only that cucumbers _would not_ give you AIDS but also that the first time for a girl could hurt a lot. With Santana he didn't have to worry about that since she had been ridden more times than a bicycle by the time Finn had gotten to her, but Rachel… Finn just _really_ did not want to hurt her. He'd never forgive himself if he ruined her first time.

Rachel widened her legs as far as she could to accommodate Finn and help make him comfortable. She knew this was more than likely going to hurt a great deal, but once they got started and got used to it, Rachel knew eventually all the pain would subside and only pleasure would be left…at least she hoped so. Finn's hands were on either side of Rachel's head. She wrapped her arms around Finn's neck and clasped her hands together at the nape. He moved one hand down between him and Rachel to grip himself and maneuvered in front of her entrance. She could feel his tip brushing against her slightly and she shivered in anticipation.

Finn swallowed hard. "Are you ready?" he said hoarsely. Rachel shook her head yes quickly. He slowly started sliding himself into Rachel and as he got deeper and deeper, Rachel's face contorted in pain as her walls wrapped tightly around him.

"Ow," Rachel squeaked out in a small voice.

"Rachel, we can stop-"

"No, keep going. Just keep going," she insisted. The only way it would get better would be if they kept going. Finally Finn was buried as deeply as possible. "Just hold on for a sec, Finn." Rachel took a deep breath. Her heart was racing and she wondered if Finn could hear it. As she lay there under Finn just staring up him, it hit her; she was no longer a virgin. She closed her eyes and took another deep, steadying breath. When she opened them, she knew she was ready to continue.

"Make love to me, Santa Claus," Rachel teased slightly. Finn's half smile popped onto his face and he leaned down to kiss Rachel.

"I love you, Rachel." Slowly he pulled back out of her almost all the way then pushed in again. Rachel winced a little the first few times Finn did this but after a while she noticed the pain was lessening.

As they progressed, Finn picked up a little speed. He watched Rachel's face as he thrust in and out of her and her pained expression turned into one of enjoyment. She closed her eyes, bit her lip and threw her head back as Finn moved his hand back down between them and began massaging her clit lightly. He had only touched her a few times since their groundings had ended but each time had been better than the time before and this one was definitely the best.

Each time Finn thrust into her, he couldn't believe how incredibly tight she was. This felt totally different than his first time. Add in the fact that Rachel was moaning like crazy and her boobs bounced each time their hips met and it was almost too much for Finn to handle. Though they hadn't really gone for very long, Finn was about ready to come undone. His stamina had increased somewhat over the past few months but sex with Rachel was new territory. He was surprised he hadn't blown his load yet actually. One thing Finn was certain of however was that he was going to get Rachel off before he let himself go.

She could feel him hitting her in the right spot each time he thrust into her and each time it was almost enough to send her over the edge. Something was stopping her though. Finn felt amazing and it felt awesome having him playing with her clit at the same time as being inside her, but it was like the pieces weren't coming together yet. That was until Rachel finally looked down in between them. There was something about watching Finn move in and out of her that drove her crazy and was enough to push her over that edge.

Finn could feel her coming now. She clenched around him and clawed at his back. He could feel her legs squeezing around his hips as she fought to keep the sensation going for as long as possible. Her head whipped back against the pillow and her mouth fell open to let out the loudest cry Finn had ever heard.

"OH FINN!" Rachel practically screamed as her lower half fluttered rapidly. Hearing her scream his name made Finn lose all control and he finally released into the condom with a very loud groan of his own. Completely spent, Finn nearly collapsed on top of Rachel. His arm holding him up shook from carrying his weight. Gently, Finn fell onto Rachel's sweaty body. She hugged his head to her chest and played with his hair as they tried to control their erratic breathing. That had been the most intense and erotic moment of either of their lives.

After what seemed an eternity, Finn finally raised his head and looked at Rachel. "I love you," was all he said.

"I love you," she replied quietly. Finn pulled himself off of Rachel and sat on the edge of her bed. He carefully removed the condom and threw it in the trash can then laid back down next to Rachel. They faced each other and just looked into the other's eyes. Rachel sidled up to Finn and began playing with his hair again. He brushed his fingertips along her arm then gently placed his hand on her hip. "Merry Christmas, Finn. I hope my gift was satisfactory."

Finn scoffed. "Rach, that gift was fucking epic. I don't think anything could ever top it." Rachel giggled as Finn pulled her in for a deep kiss. "You're amazing Rachel."

"You know what would be amazing?" Finn shrugged at Rachel's question. "A second round and potentially a third, maybe even fourth, before my dads get home." Rachel gripped the Santa jacket Finn was still wearing and pulled him back on top of her. Finn reached out to the bedside table and grabbed another foil packet. He knew it had been a good idea to keep those out.

As he got ready to make love to Rachel again, a singular thought flitted across Finn's mind: _best Christmas ever_.

* * *

><p>Sexy times have ensued! :D<p> 


	7. New York New Year

Once again I'd just like to thank everyone for their reviews and alerts and favorites. It touches my heart. As for this chapter, I'm particularly proud of it. It wasn't initially how I had set out to write it but I'm very happy with the result. So enjoy!

* * *

><p>It was New Year's Eve and things were not going as planned. Rachel had woken up that morning with a fever, sore throat and swollen glands. She wasn't sure how she had caught the flu but it was apparent that she had but it also felt like more than that. It was unfortunate too since Rachel's fathers were going to be spending the night at a party with some friends leaving their house quite empty. She had told them she'd be spending her night at the Hummel-Hudson house and they had okayed the idea but Rachel had a plan. She wanted to ring in 2012 with a bit more than just a kiss at midnight.<p>

Ever since she and Finn had finally consummated their love the day after Christmas, Rachel was ravenous. She and Finn had gone at it multiple times a day every day that week since her fathers were at work and left her to her own devices at home. Rachel knew she'd never be some sex crazed teenage girl like Santana or Brittany but it seemed that sex with Finn was enough to at least turn her into a sex crazed girlfriend. After Rachel's grounding had ended things pretty much went back to the way they had been before. She couldn't be sure but Rachel thought perhaps Carole had intervened on her behalf. Her fathers, especially her dad, had relaxed quite a bit when it came to her and Finn spending time alone together. Though they were okay with their evening alone time while they were home, Rachel did not need them to know about Finn's frequent visits to their house for midday coitus.

Her plan would have been perfect if she hadn't of caught the damn flu. When she trekked down to the kitchen after waking up, her nose running, her body on fire and her voice practically gone, she knew her dads would not leave the house that night. No way would they let _her_ leave the house in that condition. No, her New Year's plans were dashed. Now she had to break it to Finn.

Hiram sent Rachel to back to bed with some herbal tea to help her throat and some medicine to help bring her fever down. Before she allowed herself to pass out again and try to sleep this flu out, Rachel had to call Finn.

The phone rang three times before Finn answered all chipper and not sick sounding at all. "Morning Rach! What's up? I know it's only like 11 am but did your dads leave yet?" he asked in a low, eager voice. If she didn't feel like she were about to die, she'd have been quite turned on. Rachel currently wanted to punch Finn however. How did she end up with the flu and he didn't? They had swapped spit all week!

"No," she barely squeaked out.

"Rachel?" Finn could barely hear her.

She tried to speak as loudly as she could. "Finn, can't come over tonight. I'm," she coughed a few times and quite loudly into the receiver, "sick. Got flu. Love. Bye." She couldn't even form a whole coherent sentence. Not wanting to try to expend any more energy than necessary, Rachel hung up the phone without even letting Finn respond and promptly passed out.

As Rachel slept she had the strangest dreams. At one point she dreamed she was pregnant with an orca and everyone wanted to touch her stomach but finally she couldn't take it anymore and bit anyone's head off, literally, that came near her then dove into a pool and turned into a mermaid. That dream then shifted into one where she was roaming her elementary school in one ruby slipper. She was searching for the other one frantically because she had to make the bus home and it was getting ready to leave. She entered the auditorium and found she was interrupting band practice and everyone glared at her meanly then began throwing their instruments at her. She booked it out of the space and found her way outside. The dream shifted again then and she found herself staring up at what appeared to be a haunted mansion. There was a singular light on inside and she ventured into the building despite knowing there was something sinister lurking inside.

In her dream, as she made her way through the house toward the room with the light on she could feel the walls around her moving, changing the layout of the mansion. Rachel was still able to find her way to the light though. When she entered the room, the only thing Rachel could see was a chair facing away from her and the light floating next to the chair.

Hesitantly, Rachel moved toward the chair. Slowly she reached her hand out to spin it around but as she did so long spindly fingers wrapped around her wrist. From out of the chair rose the most terrifying thing Rachel had ever seen. It was a vampire, fangs bared and ready to strike. She noticed something about this vampire that terrified her even more before she tore her hand from its grasp and ran from the room. She'd seen its face before. It was that of a woman she hadn't seen or heard from in over a year: her mother.

It felt like she was running in water as she made her way to the door that would free her from Shelby's lair. When she finally reached the door and turned the knob she found herself tumbling out onto a bright green empty football field. Rachel stood up and continued running for dear life.

Rachel looked behind her and saw nothing there, but then she slammed into something in front of her. She looked up in horror at Shelby towering over her. Her fangs were bared and her eyes were blood red. Then she spoke.

"You can run all you want Rachel but you're never going to get away! Face it! You'll end up just like me. Like mother, like daughter." Laughter peeled from the vampire and Rachel struggled against Shelby's grip. Shelby opened her mouth wide and sunk her teeth into Rachel's neck. She could consciously feel herself scream and thrash about on her bed. Her throat was on fire.

"Rachel. Rachel! Calm down, Rachel! It's only a dream! It's okay. It's only a dream." She could hear the words but they were doing nothing to comfort her. Feeling hot and sweaty and sick beyond belief, Rachel pushed the body she could feel holding her, trying to calm her down, away and practically leaped off the bed and sprinted to the bathroom. She barely made it to her toilet in time to vomit into it. Once the dry heaving, nothing but tea had been in her stomach all day, had ceased Rachel fell to the floor and sobbed into her bathmat.

She could feel strong arms wrap around her and lift her off the floor. Rachel continued to sob into the chest of the man carrying her. He placed her back onto her bed, cuddled right up next to her, held her tightly in his arms and pulled her sheet and comforter over the both of them.

"Finn," Rachel sobbed out as she gripped his shirt front tightly.

"It's gonna be okay, Rachel. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," he said comfortingly, running his hand gently through her hair and kissing her forehead lightly.

Though she could barely speak, Rachel had to try to tell Finn about her dream, or more accurately, her nightmare. "It was awful. She-Shelby, she…"

Finn tensed at the name. Rachel never talked about Shelby. She was a sore subject for Rachel and he knew this despite Rachel denying it the one time Finn asked. He might be dumb but he wasn't stupid. No wonder Rachel had awoken that way.

"She said I…was gonna…end up just…just like her. Like mother, like…daughter. Then…she bit me," Rachel said between sobs. Finn's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"She bit you?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

"She was…was a vampire." Finn looked at Rachel and noticed she really needed a tissue. He grabbed one off her bedside table and handed it to her. Even though her nose was all red and runny and her eyes were all red and puffy and her hair was a mess and she just overall looked miserable he still felt she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Rachel blew her nose loudly and her crying subsided a bit. That's when every insecurity Rachel felt about New York spilled from her lips. Sure Rachel knew she wanted New York but that didn't mean she didn't feel scared about leaving behind everything she knew for a chance at stardom. Shelby had been beyond talented and she wasn't able to make it. What if vampire Shelby was right and Rachel would end up stuck back in Lima alone? "Finn, I don't… What if I fail in New York? What if I can't get into college there? What if-"

"Rachel, stop it. You're the smartest and most talented person I know. You're meant for New York. You won't fail and you will make it into college there and you will go on to be the biggest Broadway star ever. Even bigger than Patti LuPone. New York is our city, I can feel it. One day we'll be back at Sardi's and some young ingue will see you and stop you to say you're her idol. It's gonna happen, Rach," Finn stated firmly. This was the first time he had ever heard Rachel talk this way. She had told him the day they got back together she was going to New York and never coming back. Why did she doubt that now?

"The word is ingénue." Even with a fever of 101 degrees Rachel was still correcting Finn. "But you really think so?"

Finn looked Rachel square in the eye. "I _know_ so." Finn kissed Rachel's forehead again and pulled her close. She was still hot and sweaty but being in Finn's arms was making her feel much better. Then she really realized Finn was there.

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked looking up at him.

"I called your dads and asked if I could come over to take care of you after you called me. They said yes. I guess they figured we wouldn't be doing anything they wouldn't approve of tonight. Also I think your dad hopes I catch whatever you have. Plus, I wanted to spend New Year's Eve with you. That was the plan after all. Our nighttime activities have just changed a bit." Rachel gave a small chuckle then turned her head to cough again.

"Ugh, this is the worst I've ever felt. It's like I have the flu mixed with a cold. And how are you not sick? We've been together all week long," Rachel pouted into Finn's chest.

Finn shrugged. "I drink a lot of orange juice. Maybe it's all the vitamin C?"

"I hate you sometimes," Rachel groaned.

"I love you," Finn responded knowing Rachel was just annoyed at her stroke of bad luck.

"I love you too."

They sat there in silence just holding each other. After a while Finn could hear Rachel's breathing get heavier then finally he could hear her light snore. She had fallen asleep again. Not too long after Finn joined her in unconsciousness.

The sleeping teenagers were startled awake by a loud beeping and buzzing sound. The room was now pitch black except for the little square of light glowing on Rachel's bedside table. Rachel groggily leaned over to grab the phone. She looked to see who was calling but noticed it was actually her alarm. The time said 11:30 pm.

"Who's calling?" Finn asked sleepily as he buried his face in the crook of Rachel's neck.

"It's my alarm," Rachel croaked out. She cleared her throat harshly and continued speaking. "We have a half hour left until midnight."

"Why is your alarm going off at 11:30 pm?"

"I set it so that if we were…_preoccupied_ we'd know how much time we had until midnight. I want to watch the ball drop." Rachel sat up and Finn fell face first into her pillow. He hadn't been expecting her to move. "I'll be right back." Rachel got out of bed and went into her bathroom. Finn rolled onto his back then sat up. The room was so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He groped around on the side table for his own phone and once he found it used it as a flashlight to maneuver over to the light switch. He flicked it on and his eyes narrowed as they were assaulted by the brightness. He perched himself on the edge of Rachel's bed to wait for her.

A few minutes later he heard the bathroom door open again and he turned to face his ill girlfriend. She looked much better than she had the last time she had woken up but still not all that healthy. Her hair was brushed and pulled back and she had changed from her matching flannel pajamas to a bright pink tank top and blue cotton shorts.

"It's so hot in here," she moaned. Her voice was still very quiet and hoarse.

"Actually babe, I think it's just you. And I'm not using that as a line. You were burning up all day long." Rachel walked over to Finn as he stood up and grabbed his hand. They made their way downstairs to the living room and found her dads sitting on the couch together watching the New Year's countdown from New York City. They had a bottle of champagne out and some small snacks on the coffee table.

"Hey sweetie, are you feeling any better?" Hiram asked as Rachel plopped down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Not really. I threw up earlier and my throat is still killing me." She coughed as she finished her sentence just proving she still felt awful. Hiram felt her forehead with his hand then wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I know you feel awful sweetie. It'll pass though. And I'm sure having Finn here to help nurse you back to health is helping a bit too," Hiram said glancing between his daughter and Finn.

Rachel looked at Finn and smiled at him slightly. "Definitely." She gripped his hand and sat up straight. "How much longer until the ball drops?"

"About 15 minutes," Leroy responded as he popped a piece of popcorn in his mouth.

The four of them chatted gaily about their New Year's Resolutions and bet on how long they would keep them up. Rachel knew she would keep hers for the rest of her life. She resolved to make it to the Great White Way and become the biggest thing on Broadway. Rachel knew it wouldn't be easy but then again, nothing worth having is usually easy to get.

Five minutes before the ball was to drop, Hiram excused himself to use the bathroom and Leroy went into the kitchen to grab some more medicine for Rachel and to make some more tea for Rachel to drink for their New Year's toast. Finn and Rachel sat in the living room watching the celebration in Times Square.

"One day we'll be there, Rach. Not as tourists either. We're probably gonna have a shitty little apartment to start out with but it'll be ours. We're gonna make it there," Finn said as he looked at Rachel.

"_We're_ going to make it there?" Rachel asked, emphasizing the "we" in the sentence. She had heard him earlier using "we" and had been somewhat surprised. She had just been too freaked out and tired to comment.

"Of course. I'm not staying here," Finn said sounding slightly offended that she would even suggest such a thing. "Even if I don't make it into a fancy school like NYU or whatever, they have community colleges there and I can always reapply to some bigger schools after a semester or two. I may have to get a part-time job and live on Ramen noodles for a few years to pay for an apartment if I don't end up being able to dorm, but it'll be worth it. I'm still not entirely sure what I want to study but what better place to find out than New York City, right?" Finn smiled brightly at Rachel. She could see the pure excitement on his face.

Rachel beamed at Finn. He was determined to come with her and she couldn't be happier. Though they had talked before of how to make their relationship work for the long term, something in the back of Rachel's mind always made her feel like it would end up being impossible. Hearing Finn speak this way however, actually sounding enthusiastic about moving to New York, made Rachel really think for the first time that maybe she really could have it all.

"Finn Hudson, are you _actually_ planning your future?" Rachel asked feigning surprise.

"Babe, I've been thinking about how to get to New York with you since we kissed in the library." Finn leaned his forehead against Rachel's, somewhat mimicking their interaction that day.

Suddenly Rachel felt nervous at his words. "Finn, I don't want you to go to New York just because that's where I'm going. You shouldn't plan your future around anyone else. Not even me. You need to do what _you_ want to do."

"I am. I told you once that I didn't know how to dream big and I think the reason why was because no one ever wanted me to. Not until you. Once I saw your determination and how you were going to go about getting what you wanted, it made me want to do the same. You inspire me. I may not know exactly what my dream is yet, but I have a feeling in my gut I'm going to find it in New York."

Just then Hiram and Leroy re-entered the living room and sat back down on the couch. That's when Rachel noticed there was only about 30 seconds left in 2011. They all stared at the TV just watching the ball drop lower and lower until the clock hit ten seconds when they started chanting out the decreasing numbers. As the clock turned to midnight Finn turned Rachel's face toward him and he laid one on her. He didn't care if he'd wake up sick later he just needed to kiss his girlfriend in that moment. "I love you, Rachel, so much."

Rachel leaned her forehead against Finn's. In that moment she knew 2012 would be their year. Her nightmare wouldn't come true. She wouldn't let it. Rachel knew Finn was right; they'd make New York theirs. "I love you too, Finn."

* * *

><p>Fun fact: All of Rachel's dreams are based off of real ones I've had. I felt they all could fit Rachel's life though. My recurring vampire one particularly used to scare the crap out of me when I was little. Now it makes me laugh though because unlike Shelby, my mom in the dream had a very large conehead. Not really sure why though...<p> 


	8. Not So Stupid Cupid

It was Valentine's Day and this year the only person Finn would be kissing was Rachel. Even if he didn't have the most amazing girlfriend ever he still would not be re-opening that kissing booth. He never wanted to have mono again. That was the worst month ever and he hadn't even made that much money. This year, since the glee club made it to Nationals again, they needed something that could bring the guys of McKinley in too. So Rachel came up with the idea of selling carnations.

The whole week prior to Valentine's Day, the New Directions kids took turns during lunch selling carnations and dedications; red ones for love and white ones for friendship. That Tuesday Finn, Rachel, Riley, Kyle and Marie would deliver them all to their subjects during second period. Surprisingly, they sold over $3,000 worth of carnations and most of it was profit since Kurt had been able to score them a great deal at the flower shop he had gone to for Burt and Carole's wedding. Rachel had noticed during her and Finn's shifts selling them that most people would buy at least two carnations if not more. She couldn't help but feel proud of her idea which had clearly gone over well with the student body.

On Monday afternoon Kurt and Finn picked up the boxes of carnations and brought them back to school so everyone could help tag them with the dedications people had written. It took them hours to get through all of them and the whole time everyone bitched about how annoying it was to have to tie all the little slips of paper to the stems but Rachel couldn't be happier. Yet again she had come up with a fantastic plan to help her New Directions family. Even though they'd whine about how awful it was at first, she knew, like always, they'd come around to appreciate it once it was over.

The next day Rachel arrived to the school early to make sure all the flowers were bundled properly. It would not do to give someone the wrong flower. After checking the names on the dedications to her list of students' schedules three times, Rachel headed to her first period class. She was anxious to hand out the carnations and see peoples' reactions to them. She was also kind of hoping there'd be at least one red one waiting for her on her desk when she returned to class.

The bell signaling that first period was over finally rang and Rachel rushed out of the room to head to the choir room. When she arrived she found Kyle and Marie looking over the flowers trying to find the bunches they were due to hand out.

"Hey guys! Ready to spread the love?" Rachel asked excitedly. Kyle just nodded at her but Marie gushed.

"I'm so ready, Rachel! This was an amazing idea! You always come up with the greatest ideas. You're so smart." Rachel smiled sweetly at Marie, appreciating all the praise. She had noticed, especially after her Halloween party, that Marie had grown rather attached to her. Marie constantly complimented her and always agreed with her and even started wearing knee socks and skirts more often. She was like the Rachel Berry Fan Club and Rachel couldn't get enough.

Finally Riley showed up followed by Finn. It was the first time she had seen him all day so as he entered the room she walked over to him and gave him a huge kiss. "Happy Valentine's Day, baby. Ready to hand out flowers?"

"Happy Valentine's Day, Rach. About as ready as I'll ever be. I've never given flowers to a dude before. Not looking forward to that," Finn said as he moved toward the piles of flowers to find his bunches.

"Finn as co-captains of glee it is our responsibility to work together on things like this. And really you aren't giving them the flowers. You're simply the messenger. You'll be like Cupid, helping to spread love around McKinley." Rachel smiled at Finn. Kyle began laughing at the mental image of Finn wearing a diaper and carrying a bow and heart tipped arrows as Cupid but quickly tried disguising it as a cough when he saw Finn glare at him. As a lowly Freshman it was not smart of him to get on the bad side of the McKinley all-star Senior.

Once the five of them had all their bunches sorted and ready for distribution, they headed out to hand them out. They had separated the school into five areas that each of them would cover. Rachel and Finn were each covering half of the first floor which contained classrooms that seven out of the 17 glee members would be in this period. The first room Rachel would cover would be Mr. Schuester's.

"Hola Rachel. Come on in," Mr. Schuester said as he noticed Rachel standing at the door with the large box of flowers. "Clase, su attencion por favor." Mr. Schue motioned for Rachel to take the floor.

"Gracias Señor Schuester. Good morning! Happy Valentine's Day! I have quite a few carnations here for everyone so let's get started." Rachel started calling out names and handing the flowers to everyone. When she got to Quinn's name she smiled at the girl. "Quinn, looks like you have a quite a few admirers here."

Rachel walked over to the girl and handed her four red carnations and six white ones. As she laid the flowers down on Quinn's desk she could recall having put some of the dedications on them. At least one red flower was from Kyle. He was enamored of Quinn and had been since the first moment he saw her. Honestly Rachel figured it was the only reason he had joined glee club but she wasn't complaining. Rachel even got the vibe that Quinn had a little crush on him. She would never admit it however because a Senior girl like Quinn Fabray dating a Freshman boy like Kyle Neuman was not something people would just let happen. Not at this school. Plus she was graduating in June and leaving for college in the fall. Things would never work out.

Quinn smiled as she read all her dedications and Rachel continued down the list. Then she got to Finn's name. Obviously he was not in the room at the moment so she'd just have to leave his flowers for him. She grabbed the bunch labeled with his name and finally noticed something. All the carnations but one he was receiving were red. Rachel had only bought him one red one. Who the hell were the other seven from? She tried to speed read the dedications as she placed the flowers on his desk but she wasn't able to catch any names. Her blood boiled a little. How dare seven other girls send her boyfriend a red carnation? Didn't they realize he had a girlfriend and a very serious one at that?

Before she could throw a hissy fit over it in the middle of Mr. Schue's room, she continued down the list. She practically threw the flowers at the rest of the people on it. She thanked the class and Mr. Schuester and angrily exited the room.

On the other end of the school Finn was in a math room he'd never been in. When he looked at the list of names he realized why he had never been in there, it was the smart people's math room. Finn wasn't exactly remedial but he wasn't Einstein either. He was average. Even though he knew his responsibility as a glee co-captain meant having to do this, it didn't mean he felt comfortable standing alone in the front of the room of kids waiting for their flowers. Finally he started reading off the names.

"Artie Abrams," Finn read. He looked up and smiled at Artie who grinned. Finn handed him a bunch of white carnations and a single red one. Finn had remembered tying that dedication. It had been from Brittany. They had been on and off for the last year and at least for now it appeared they were on again.

Finn looked back at the list. "Rachel Berry," he said looking up for her until he remembered she was handing out flowers too. Finn had paid a dollar just like everyone else for his flower but when Kurt and him had gone to pick them up he had decided to go a little fancier. He had bought Rachel a single red rose and tied his dedication to that instead of a carnation. So, now as he stared down at her bunch of flowers he was wondering why four of them were red. He had figured Jacob Ben Israel had bought at least one of these, the guy still didn't get that Rachel wasn't interested, but that still left three others. Who the hell was declaring their love for Rachel? Didn't they realize she was taken?

Trying not to dwell it too much right now, Finn placed the bunch of flowers on her desk and moved onto the next name. Finn handed a bunch of white carnations and a single red one to Mike Chang and did the same for Tina. They sat next to each other in the room and leaned over to kiss one another after reading their dedications.

Then he got down to Kurt's name. Sadly all of his were white. This didn't bother Kurt that much since he had Blaine and knew he'd get more than just a silly carnation from him later, but he was somewhat disappointed. Even Rachel had gotten four red ones which Kurt knew were not from Finn. It sucked that no one at school felt confident enough to declare their love for Kurt via flower, if there even _was_ anyone at school who was in love with Kurt.

Finn finished up his list for that room and moved onto the next one. Ten minutes before the period was over Finn had finished his area and headed back to Mr. Schuester's class. When he arrived he noticed his desk was not empty. There sat a single white carnation and eight red ones. He hadn't expected Rachel to buy him that many flowers. It wasn't needed. But then he looked at the slips attached to the flowers. The white carnation was from Kurt and just said something mildly embarrassing about being a good brother and keeping it down the next time Rachel came over but to enjoy his first Valentine's Day with her. Then he read the one from Rachel.

_My dearest Finn,_

_Happy Valentine's Day! I love you so much and I can't wait to see what you have planned for our date tonight. You never fail to amaze me with your ingenuity when you apply yourself. I'll see you at my house around seven just like you said. I love you, Finn._

_Forever yours,_

_Rachel*_

Finn smiled. He wasn't exactly sure what ingenuity meant but he had a feeling it was a good thing. He'd look it up later. Then he moved onto the seven other red carnations. He vaguely recalled who these girls were from the kissing booth last year but he honestly didn't care. It didn't matter that they sent him red carnations anyway, he was in love with Rachel and nothing was going to change that. The last dedication he read actually kind of freaked him out though. It read:

_Finn,_

_We've never really spoken before but I just needed you to know this before you left school forever and I never got the chance to tell you. I'm in love with you. The moment I first saw you I had this fantasy of just shoving you into the janitor's closet and kissing you like mad. You make my heart beat like a hummingbird's wings and my breathing stop all together. I know you're with Rachel and nothing will ever come from this but I just had to tell you how I felt even if you'll never know who I am. I love you, Finn Hudson._

_Your Secret Admirer_

Finn just sat there dumbfounded. Someone anonymous was in love with him and wanted to shove him in the janitor's closet? What was going on? The other carnations had expressed similar feelings but something about this one felt different. Maybe it was because of the element of the unknown. Finn wasn't sure.

Rachel had made it back to math about five minutes before the bell was due to ring. She smiled at everyone reading over their dedications and smiling themselves. She knew this had been a good idea, with the exception of the seven girls who had sent Finn red carnations. As she approached her desk she noticed she had four white and five red flowers. One of them was not a carnation however.

She smiled sweetly when she picked up the red rose from Finn. Rachel opened the dedication and read:

_Rachel,_

_Happy Valentine's Day! Sorry for being such an ass last year about the kissing booth thing. Don't worry, now you can get a big sloppy mouth kiss from me anytime you want for free and you don't need to worry about catching mono. I hope your day is awesome. I'll see you tonight at your place at seven. I love you, Rach._

_Faithfully,_

_Finn_

Rachel chuckled a bit at his apology. She smelled the rose and hugged it to her chest lovingly. Then she moved on to her white carnations. One was from Mercedes just telling her to have a happy V-Day, another was from Kurt and made her blush a little, one was from Marie and just said how much she appreciated Rachel being her friend even though she was only a Freshman and the last one was from Brittany. It had a drawn on picture of a cat carrying a flower in its mouth and a thought bubble that said 'Happy Valentine's Day'. Rachel thought it was extremely cute.

Lastly were the red carnations. Rachel was truly curious as to why there were four of them. Over her high school career only four people had ever shown interest in her. Finn had given her the rose, Puck was definitely not interested in Rachel now as he was still - to everyone's surprise - with Lauren and Jesse had finally backed off after Nationals last year and he didn't even go to McKinley anyway. She had a feeling at least one of these would be from Jacob Ben Israel but that still left three others.

Rachel opened a dedication and all it had written on it was 'love'. She opened another and it said, 'Rachel, I' and the next one she opened read, 'You. Jacob'. Instantly, she put it together. Jacob had sent Rachel three carnations spelling out how he felt about her. She rolled her eyes and crumpled up the little slips of paper. Then she realized there was still another red carnation. Her interest was beyond piqued.

Slowly she opened the last dedication and read it. All it said was, 'You are beautiful.' She looked around the room like maybe the person who sent her the flower was there. There was no way to discern who had sent it though. Rachel really hated anonymity, now so more than ever.

The bell rang a few moments later and everyone exited the room to get to their next class. For the rest of the school day neither Finn nor Rachel could get their anonymous dedications out of their heads. It wasn't that they wanted to pursue their writers; they just had a gross curiosity as to who had these feelings for them. Finally the end of the day had arrived, which meant glee rehearsal.

Everyone filed into the room and took their seats while they waited for Mr. Schue. Finn plopped down next to Rachel, interlocked his fingers with her's and pulled them to his mouth so he could kiss the back of her hand. Mr. Schue entered a moment later.

"Congratulations guys! The carnation sale was a huge success. Everyone loved getting their flowers today. Let's give our organizer, Rachel, a big hand," he praised as everyone clapped for Rachel. She almost stood up and curtsied but she didn't want to go too over the top with her thank you. "If you don't mind Rachel, I'd like to try this idea again next year."

"Certainly, Mr. Schuester. You can use any of my ideas, as long as I get proper credit for them of course," Rachel stated. She didn't need anything more than just simple recognition for all her hard work.

"Well seeing as it is Valentine's Day and I'm sure most of you have plans, I'm cancelling glee practice for today. I just wanted to congratulate all of you on your hard work. So I will see you all tomorrow." Everyone stood up and headed to the door, chatting about all the carnations and dedications they had received that day; everyone except for Finn, Rachel and Marie.

"I cannot believe you got seven red carnations that were not from me today. Do people _still_ not realize we are together?" Rachel asked in a huff. Finn gave a small smile.

"Does it really matter, Rach? The only red carnation I cared about was the one from you." Rachel was overjoyed at Finn's words. "And what about you with your four red ones? It was really annoying have to put four carnations on your desk that were not from me."

"You don't need to worry about those. Three of them were from Jacob," Rachel said with great distaste. She could not wait to get to New York where Jacob would not be.

"That still leaves one. Who was that from?" Finn didn't really want to know but at the same time really did. He knew Rachel wouldn't drop him for some tool who could only say what he felt on a little slip of paper handed to her by someone else, but he still wanted to know whose ass he'd have to kick if the guy ever tried anything.

"I don't know. It wasn't signed. Not even from 'Your Secret Admirer' or anything. All it said was 'You are beautiful'." She looked up at Finn expecting to see jealousy cross his face but she didn't.

"Well, at least whoever it was got that right," Finn said leaning down to kiss Rachel. Just before he could deepen it, a throat cleared next to the couple. They broke apart and found Marie patiently staring at them.

"Sorry to bother you but, Rachel I was wondering if you could help me with something from music theory really quick. It's due tomorrow and I'm really stuck. No one knows music better than you do." Though Rachel was annoyed at Marie's interruption, that feeling was quickly replaced by appreciation at Marie's astute assessment.

Rachel smiled brightly. "Of course, Marie. Just give me a moment to run to my locker first. I'll be right back." Rachel exited the room leaving Finn and Marie alone together. Even though they had been in glee together all year, Finn didn't really know Marie. She really only spoke to Rachel, otherwise she remained quiet.

"So did you get any carnations today?" Finn asked awkwardly.

Marie stared at the floor. "Yes, a few friendship ones." She paused for a moment. "I didn't get any from the person I really wanted to though." Marie glanced up at Finn quickly then back down to the floor. He wasn't sure if it was her words or the way she had looked at him but suddenly Finn knew who sent him that awkward red carnation. Now he had no idea how to continue. Should he tell her he knew or just play dumb? The last thing he needed was to be in another love triangle even if this time he wouldn't be leaving his girlfriend.

Hesitantly Finn replied. "Well, maybe next year you'll get some nice red ones." He licked his lips nervously and scrunched his mouth up on one side.

"Maybe," Marie said sadly. Not being able to handle her sad expression Finn decided to subtly let her know he knew and then gently let her down. He couldn't have some 14 year old girl pining away for him. He needed to help her move on from him.

"You know, just because that certain guy doesn't feel the same way about you as you feel about him doesn't mean no one will. I'm sure there's a great guy out there who will want to be with you like you want him. A Finn to your Rachel," he said smiling briefly. Marie smiled back slightly.

"You know I sent you a carnation, don't you?" Marie asked boldly, blushing beet red as Finn shook his head yes. "God, I'm so embarrassed." She walked over to the chair, sat down and placed her head in her hands.

Finn moved to sit next to her and patted her shoulder lightly. "It's alright Marie. I've done way more embarrassing stuff," Finn said remembering all the times he ended up in strange outfits and all the stupid stuff he said in the past. Most recently, during the last glee rehearsal he had been having stomach problems from his Philly cheesesteak at lunch and right as the song finished and everything was dead silent he let out the loudest and longest fart he'd ever had. As everyone turned to stare at him, he could feel every ounce of blood he had rush to his face. It was not one of his finer moments.

"Yeah, I heard about when you walked down the hall in just your underwear," Marie stated, going red at the thought. Now Finn felt really uncomfortable as Marie stared at him. It was like she was undressing him with her eyes. He shifted away in his seat.

"Anyway," Finn continued, "you're a great girl Marie and someday you'll find the right guy. That guy just isn't me. You deserve someone who wants you just as much as you want them."

"Like how you want Rachel," Marie said quietly. Though she didn't say anything for a moment after that, Finn had a feeling Marie got the message. She stood up and faced Finn. She stuck her hand out and waited for him to grab it. "Thank you, Finn."

Finn hesitantly grabbed Marie's hand. "For what?" he asked as she began shaking it.

"For being so understanding and not making me feel horrible for sending you that. You're right. I shouldn't settle for unrequited love. Someone is out there for me. I just need to concentrate on finding him," Marie explained.

Finn stood up and towered over her. She wasn't quite as short as Rachel, but she wasn't eye level either. "Anytime," he said with a smirk.

Marie released his hand and made her way over to her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Rachel walked back in with her book bag and was babbling away already about notes and beats and other parts of music that neither Finn nor Marie was actually listening to. Rachel stopped and looked at Marie with confusion. "I thought you needed my help?" she asked somewhat dejectedly.

"Finn actually helped me figure it out. It's okay, Rachel. Thanks though. I hope you and Finn have a great Valentine's Day!" Marie said with a big smile and actually meaning her words. She hugged Rachel goodbye and left the choir room.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at Finn. "Okay then." Before Rachel could say anything else, Finn closed the distance between them and kissed Rachel softly. When they broke apart Rachel pulled her lips in to just taste Finn. "What was that for?"

"For wanting me just as much as I want you," Finn said quietly before leaning forward to kiss her again. "Remember, seven at your place. I'll be there on time so you gotta be ready," Finn said as he pulled away from her lips and moved toward the door. He smirked at Rachel before ducking out of the room leaving her standing there alone.

Seven was not coming fast enough.

* * *

><p>Another two parter! I'm looking to have the second half up very soon. I hope you'll find it worth the wait.<p> 


	9. Salad Nicoise Minus The French Bit

It was seven pm exactly and Rachel was pacing by her front door. Finn had told her to dress up so she put on a strapless deep red dress with a thin black tie that went around the waist and the hem of which went to just above the knee as she stood. Her shoulders were covered by a satiny black wrap and she wore a pair of new satiny black pumps which gave her quite a few inches more height and made her legs look fantastic. Rachel's hair was in a classy low side pony with her bangs and a few carefully placed pieces of hair framing her face. She looked very classy.

"He said he would be here on time. It's now 7:01!" Rachel huffed as she continued pacing.

"Sweetheart, calm down. He's just a minu-" Hiram began placating his highly strung daughter until he heard a knock on the door. "See? That's probably him now." Hiram walked to the door and when he opened it, sure enough there was Finn in a beautiful suit carrying a beautiful bouquet of not just roses but other bright flowers as well. Rachel couldn't believe how handsome he looked. "Come in Finn."

Finn stepped into the house and he couldn't take his eyes off Rachel. She looked more beautiful than he ever thought possible. Red was definitely her color. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said again as he handed her the giant bouquet. It was so big Rachel was having some difficulty holding it.

"Finn, you really didn't need to get me every flower in Ohio," Rachel joked as she breathed in the flowers' lovely scents in. "But thank you so much. They are absolutely lovely." Hiram offered to find a vase for the bouquet and told Finn and Rachel to have fun. Finn offered his arm to Rachel and she wrapped hers around his. She swiped her matching satiny black clutch off the table at the door and they headed out to Finn's truck…which was not actually in the driveway.

"Finn, whose car is this?" Rachel asked in surprise as Finn opened the passenger door of the brand new yellow Chevy Camaro.

"It's actually my mom's new car. She let me borrow it on the condition that I do all the laundry in the house until I move out and try my hardest not to run over any more civil servants," Finn explained. "I thought it might be easier to get in and out of than my truck and it's a little more stylish."

Rachel sank into the passenger's seat and once all her limbs were inside Finn closed the door. Rachel took in the interior of the car. She had never been in a car that looked and smelled so new. Finn got into the driver's seat and looked over at Rachel.

"I didn't think Carole would be one for Chevy Camaros. When did she get it?" Rachel asked. She had to admit she was kind of in love with the car.

"Yeah, ever since Transformers came out she's had a thing for Camaros. I think she even named this car Bumblebee. Burt just picked it up for her yesterday." Finn started the engine and headed in the direction of the school.

"She got it yesterday and she's letting you drive it already? When my daddy got a new car he wouldn't let me anywhere near the driver's seat for practically a year!" Rachel said incredulously.

Finn laughed a little. "Well like I said, I'll have laundry coming out of my ears for the next few months. Besides, we aren't really going that far." Finn turned into the parking lot of the school and took the closest space to the side entrance he could find.

Rachel was a bit confused. Finn had specifically said to dress up for the occasion. Why did she need to dress up to go to a closed high school? "What's going on?"

"You'll see," Finn said as he exited the car. He walked around to Rachel's side and helped her out. Hand in hand they walked toward the side entrance Finn knew would be open. Upon arriving at it, he tried the door and found it was still unlocked. "After you, m'lady," he said cheesily. Even though she was still confused Rachel entered the building.

"Finn what are we doing at the school all dressed up?" Rachel did not like being kept in the dark. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. Without a word, Finn led them to the backstage entrance of the auditorium. Once they walked onto the stage, Rachel finally knew what Finn had up his sleeve. He had planned them a romantic on-stage picnic. Twinkly lights hung from the ceiling, lightly illuminating the pillows and blankets that covered the floor. There was a large picnic basket off to the side and plates and glasses set up for two. There was also a small iPod dock next to the picnic basket. "Finn, this is beautiful!"

Finn grinned at Rachel and pulled her against him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Rach. I know it's not Sardi's but…"

"It's better, Finn." Rachel leaned up and kissed him. When she pulled away, she dragged him over to the blankets. They removed their shoes and Rachel took off her wrap while Finn removed his jacket and sat down across from one another. Finn turned on the music and Boys Like Girls' Hero/Heroine from Finn's 'Rachel' playlist softly played in the background. It wasn't really Finn's favorite song but he knew Rachel liked it and it always reminded him of her.

"I love this song," Rachel said for the hundredth time. She said it every single time she heard it.

"I know. That's why it's on this playlist." He grabbed the picnic basket and began pulling food from it. He had tried his hardest to make everything himself but Finn wasn't the greatest chef. He hadn't even been able to recreate his grilled Cheesus again so Kurt had ended up taking the lead on most of the cooking after Finn asked for assistance. It probably ended up being a good thing. Kurt had managed to keep the meal from being burnt beyond recognition.

"So I gotta be honest, Kurt made most of this. I tried really hard to do it all myself but I nearly destroyed the kitchen when a towel slid under the burner and caught fire. I _did_ make the first course myself though," Finn said proudly as he pulled out the tub of spring mix salad. Little bits of tofu, walnuts, black olives and tomatoes were in it, all organic of course. Though Finn was an avid carnivore, much to Rachel's vexation, tonight he'd suffer through the vegan meal. It really didn't even taste that bad when he'd tried it earlier.

Rachel took some of the salad and was impressed with how much thought Finn had put into making it. True, salad was not that hard to compose but he was so proud of making something by himself that Rachel could actually eat. She ate a forkful and could taste her favorite dressing on the lettuce. The salad was really great.

While they ate they chatted about glee and possibilities for Nationals. Though Finn still despised the guy and still couldn't believe his callousness at planning Jean's funeral, he did have to admit Jesse had a point when he mentioned that Vocal Adrenaline had been in their third week of intense rehearsals. Though he didn't think New Directions needed to practice so hard they needed IV's, he definitely thought they needed more than a night's worth of rehearsing. While most of the club had blamed the Kiss of the Century for their loss, the lack of planning had probably also been a factor. Yeah their songs had ended up amazing and the choreography had come together pretty well despite Finn's dancing abilities, but they couldn't count on things working out that well again. New Directions needed to really focus on two fantastic songs and put in a lot more hard work.

They finished their salads and moved onto the main course. Finn hoped it would still be warm. Kurt had literally finished it two minutes before Finn brought it over to the school and ran to pick up Rachel. He pulled out the container and popped the top on it. Steam rose from the risotto and Finn sighed in relief.

"Is that portabella mushroom, artichoke and tomato risotto?" Rachel asked excitedly. "That's one of my favorite dishes!"

"Yeah, Kurt had me try it before and while it's not steak, it's pretty good. I can see why you like it so much." Finn spooned some out onto their plates and Rachel practically inhaled it. She really wasn't kidding when she said it was one of her favorites. After they finished the main dish, Finn brought out his favorite course, dessert.

"Vegan strawberry cheesecake," he said pulling it from the basket. Rachel's face lit up.

"You're spoiling me, Finn Hudson. This is so perfect," she said looking around. "Just curious though, how did you do all this and why was the side door open?"

Finn took a bite of the cheesecake and explained. "I paid Mr. Kidney the janitor to leave the door open for me and the AV club is invited to any future party New Directions has for helping with the lights. Apparently they didn't think $50 bucks was enough for setting up a few lights so they wanted more than just money. I'm guessing they don't get invited to parties a lot since they settled for a New Directions party."

"We are not having another party at my house! Not after what happened last time," Rachel stated firmly. Her fathers would for sure kill her if they even got whiff of another party being thrown at their home. Finn nodded in agreement.

They finished up their cheesecake and sat for a moment. "I'll be right back," Finn said as he stood up and slipped on his shoes.

"Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," Finn said as he walked backstage. Using the moment of alone time, Rachel grabbed her clutch and pulled out her compact. She checked that no food was on her face or in her teeth and she grabbed a Wisp and quickly scrubbed her teeth and tongue. Kissing Finn always felt better when she had a clean mouth. After making sure she looked fine, Rachel moved over to the iPod dock and scrolled through the current playlist. She found the 'Rachel' title amusing.

Before Finn headed to the bathroom he had to stop at his locker and grab his toothbrush. He had plans for the evening that required a very clean mouth otherwise Rachel might not go along with it. He ran the brush over every bit of the inside of his mouth that he could and scrubbed so vigorously that he looked like he had rabies before he cleaned off his face. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment before taking a deep steadying breath and heading back to the auditorium.

He could hear the music playing and as he walked back on stage he noticed Rachel swaying to the beat barefoot. "Can I cut in?" he asked playfully.

"I don't know, this guy I'm dancing with right now is a really good dancer," Rachel responded with a smirk. Finn ignored her jibe and took Rachel into his arms in the waltz stance Kurt had taught him. He just held Rachel and swayed slightly as he listened to the music. It was Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love. He'd heard it on some oldies station the one day when he was flipping through the radio and his mind immediately went to Rachel. The one line, 'take my hand, take my whole life too' really stuck out to him. When it came to Rachel that seemed to be exactly how it had happened. The only problem Finn could find with the song was the falling part; Finn wasn't falling in love with Rachel, he'd already fallen and quite some time ago.

"Ow," Rachel said quickly pulling away from Finn slightly. "You stepped on my toes."

"Sorry. Here," Finn said, lifting Rachel slightly to have her stand on his feet. "Now you'll be just as bad of a dancer as I am." Rachel laughed then buried her face in Finn's chest. She breathed him in and smiled contently. This had been by far the best Valentine's Day ever. She felt Finn kiss the top of her head then she lifted it to stare up at him.

"Thank you for dinner. It was delicious and so thoughtful." Rachel leaned up further and kissed his lips. He stopped swaying and moved his hands to Rachel's face. They kissed each other passionately for a moment then, with Rachel still standing on his feet, Finn shuffled back over to the blankets and pillows.

Still kissing her, Finn picked Rachel up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He carefully knelt down onto the blanket and leaned back on his heels. Supporting her back so she wouldn't fall over, Finn gently leaned Rachel back against some of the pillows. Thoughts of the first time they were here swirled in his brain. While kissing Rachel the first time had been awesome, he had felt somewhat guilty afterward. He'd had a girlfriend at the time, yet he was making out with and getting a boner from a different girl. Now though, Rachel was his girlfriend and he had better control over his body so he wouldn't be running away anytime soon. There would be no guilt after what he had planned, unless it went horribly wrong.

Finn ran his hand down Rachel's body slowly. Once he reached the hem of her dress he slid his hand up her thigh and it made its way to the top of her panties. He stopped kissing Rachel for a moment. "I want to go down on you," he said without preamble in a deep voice against Rachel's lips.

Rachel's heart began beating very fast. Though they'd had sex dozens of times since Christmas and Rachel had even given Finn a few sober blowjobs, he had never performed oral sex on her. She was very nervous to have Finn's face practically buried inside her. Every time Finn tried to bring it up, Rachel would deflect the conversation back to him and his needs. This had worked every time so far.

He was determined to go down on Rachel. Finn couldn't understand why Rachel didn't want him to. She had no problem doing the same to him; she even seemed to enjoy doing it for him. He wanted to be able to provide the same kind of stimulation for her as she did for him.

"Wh-why? You don't have to. Really it's okay," Rachel said trying to talk him out of it.

Finn shook his head annoyed. "Rach, I don't understand why you don't want me to do this for you. I mean, yeah, I might not be that good at it at first but with practice I'd get better…if you'd let me. I'm not going to pressure you. If you really don't want me to do it, I won't. I just don't get why you don't want me to."

Rachel pushed on his chest to get him to sit up. "It's not necessarily that I don't want you to, I'm just really nervous about it," Rachel finally confessed. "I mean, what if I end up liking it but you hate it? Or what if I hate it?"

"We'll never know if we don't try. But I don't think either of us will hate it." Finn kissed Rachel's forehead reassuringly. Rachel looked into his eyes.

"Okay Finn. We can try it." She was still beyond nervous but Finn did have a point. Neither of them could know what would happen until they at least tried. Finn smiled triumphantly at Rachel and kissed her. He gently leaned her back down onto the pillows and his hand made its way up her dress again. This time it didn't stop at the elastic but pulled it down and away from Rachel's body. Finn looked at the fabric in his hand. It was a lacy black "cheeky" as Victoria's Secret referred to them as. He only knew this because he had picked them out for her when Rachel dragged him shopping the one day. It was his reward for being the dutiful boyfriend and carrying her purse and bags all over the mall. He really liked his reward later that day when Rachel modeled it for him.

Finn sat up and moved to position himself between Rachel's legs. Her legs were bent, feet apart but knees together. She bit her lip nervously and stared at Finn while she gripped the hem of her dress to keep it from sliding down her legs. Finn licked his lips quickly and grabbed Rachel's hands in his. Gently he rubbed his thumbs over the backs of her hands to try to relax her a bit. He pulled her fingers from the fabric and placed her hands on either side of her then put his own on her knees.

Slowly Finn moved his hands up Rachel's thighs towards her torso pushing the fabric back as he did so. Rachel could feel the cool air hit her warm center as Finn pushed her dress up enough to reveal her most private area and pull her knees apart. She blushed deeply.

Finn couldn't believe it. He'd seen Rachel naked before obviously, but not in this context. This was brand new to him. Now that he got what he wanted, he was kinda shaky himself about it. Trying to keep a brave face for Rachel's sake, she'd stop him if he let how nervous he was show, Finn just decided to go for it.

He ran his hand down the inside of her left thigh and left light kisses down the inside of her right one as he made himself comfortable between Rachel's knees. Once his head was hovering just over her, he could no longer see her face. The fabric of her dress was too bunched up. Finn thought maybe it was a good thing. He didn't want to see Rachel's face if she had anything but a pleased look on it.

Deciding to start out a little slow, Finn just ran his fingers over the skin there. He could feel Rachel shiver at his touch and he smiled knowing he could make her feel amazing with a single touch. It gave him a huge confidence boost.

Using two fingers he spread her apart and revealed how wet she had become. He dipped his fingers into the moisture a bit and he couldn't help himself. Quickly he licked the tips of his fingers and found that he actually really liked how Rachel tasted. He wasn't entirely sure if it was residual flavor from dessert or if it was in fact his girlfriend but he could almost taste strawberries.

"Is everything alright?" Rachel asked nervously, lifting her head to try to see Finn over her dress. It had been a little while since he had touched her. His head popped up immediately.

"Fantastic," he replied with a hitched eyebrow and a big half smile. His head disappeared under the fabric again and that's when Rachel really started to feel good. She could feel Finn spreading the wetness up to her clit and as he did so her hips bucked up. With his free hand, Finn pushed down on her lower abdomen to keep her still so he'd have an easier time working.

Then he pushed his fingers into her. Finn knew just where to touch Rachel to get her off almost instantly, but at that moment it wasn't about that. This was about building the tension and really taking care of Rachel. He wanted her release to be magical…as cheesy as that sounded.

Unfortunately, things didn't quite go as planned. Once Finn took the plunge and licked her clit quickly, he could feel Rachel getting wetter and her walls tighten. He could also hear the very loud moan that escaped her lips. He somehow knew the next time he hit her clit she was gonna fall apart even though he hadn't really touched her. Apparently the new experience was thrilling enough that her body was even more overly sensitive than usual. Wanting to make the most of the situation, Finn determined the best way to let Rachel go was to just wrap his lips around the little nub and suck, so that was exactly what he did.

Rachel could feel the familiar sensation of having an orgasm only this one seemed more powerful. Her whole lower body clenched and she could feel her clit pulsating but it felt different than usual because Finn was still sucking on it as well. Her walls contracted rapidly around Finn's fingers and her eyelids fluttered as she fought to keep herself conscious. She gripped his hair and lifted her feet off the ground, her toes curling. Her back arched off the floor but Finn's hand kept her body from moving too far.

Slowly she came down from the extreme high, her breathing harsh and heavy. Finn didn't remove his lips from Rachel until he felt her whole body slump from exhaustion. Even Finn could tell it was the most powerful orgasm Rachel had ever had. His fingers actually kind of hurt.

As he sat up Finn fixed Rachel's dress so it covered her body again and he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. He grabbed a pillow and laid his head next to Rachel's and just stared at her. She was looking at the ceiling with wide eyes and an open mouth. Her chest was still rising and falling quickly from the exertion and Finn could tell she definitely did not hate it.

"You were so right," Rachel said breathily as she turned her head to face Finn. "That was…beyond incredible Finn. Don't get me wrong, when you touch me and when we have sex it feels amazing and I love it, but that…" Rachel let the sentence trail off as she fell into her own thoughts. The pair sat in silence, the only sound the faint music in the background. Rachel continued to stare at the ceiling and Finn continued to stare at Rachel. Her skin was glistening and she just had this glow around her. She looked beautiful.

The general silence was broken by a loud ringing coming from inside Rachel's clutch. "Oh crap! Finn what time is it?" Rachel asked frantically searching for her phone.

"Holy crap, it's almost 11 already!" Finn sat up and started throwing the remains of their picnic into the basket. Both of them had an 11 o'clock curfew and it was 10:45.

Rachel finally found her phone and answered it. "Hello daddy, yes I know it's almost 11. Finn will be bringing me home in a few minutes. I will be back on time," Rachel assured her father before he could tell her she had 15 minutes to get home before she would be grounded. She was lucky enough to be out until 11 tonight seeing as her regular weekday curfew was 10. Since it was Valentine's Day Rachel had been able to convince her daddy to give her one more hour. Once she hung up her phone, Rachel put her underwear back on and began helping Finn clean up.

Miraculously, 12 minutes later Finn was walking Rachel to her door. "I had a fantastic time Finn. Thank you so much for dinner and the dancing and-"

The door opened cutting Rachel off mid-sentence to reveal an annoyed looking Leroy Berry.

"Dessert! Dessert was great, Finn," Rachel finished as her father stared them down.

"You have two minutes," was all Leroy said as he closed the door.

"Thank you Finn, for everything." Rachel hugged her boyfriend tightly and kissed him goodbye. Rachel opened the door and stood there as she watched Finn walk back to his mom's car. As he pulled out of the driveway she waved then shut the door.

Once in her room Rachel threw herself onto her bed in bliss. Knowing what she knew now, she felt silly for having been so uptight about letting Finn go down on her. Now that she knew just how wonderful it really was, she had a feeling Finn would be getting _a lot_ of practice. This had definitely been the best Valentine's Day ever.

* * *

><p>Just a small fyi, this will be the last chapter I will be able to post before Thursday at the earliest. I'm heading to Cleveland to see Glee Live and I won't have much time for writing again until Wednesday so I hope this chapter was enough to hold you over until then! Thanks again for reading!<p> 


	10. Bouffi Pyramide Mamelons

I am back early with another chapter! I had some time on the way to and from Cleveland to write so that's what I did. (If anyone is wondering, Glee Live was the most amazing show of my life. Definitely worth the trip.) So anyway, I have two things to say about this chapter right now: one, the title is Google French for Puffy Pyramid Nipples and two, is that this is the ultimate thing I could ever want to happen on Glee. I would die from laughter. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>It was Mardi Gras and Rachel had been feeling rather naughty all day. She knew the holiday was just an excuse to party really but she was going to use it to her advantage. She had bought some colorful beads for the occasion and invited Finn over after school as her daddy had to work late and her dad was on a business trip but she had a different plan from usual in mind. Generally Rachel was all for being the one to dress up and dance around but tonight things were gonna change a little. She knew Finn would probably be against what she wanted from him but she figured the reward of hot sex would be enough to sway his opinion. Finn was usually pretty easy to manipulate when her clothes started coming off.<p>

They had glee rehearsal that afternoon and usually Finn drove Rachel home but she had insisted on driving herself to school that day. She had told Finn to go home and change into something easy to take off before heading over. She needed a little time to get ready.

A half hour later there was a knock on her bedroom door. Like usual Finn had followed her note's instructions and let himself into the house, locking the door behind him. When he entered her bedroom he had been expecting to see her in some sexy themed outfit with her room decked out in holiday décor, but found to his surprise Rachel just sitting at her desk writing.

"What, no sexy outfit for me to tear off you today?" Finn asked somewhat mockingly. While she did look adorable in her sexy little outfits he found them unnecessary. He'd still have sex with her even if she were dressed in a burlap sack.

"The only clothes you'll be tearing off today, my dear, are your own," Rachel said as she stood up and moved over to her bed. She sat on the edge and stared at Finn. He looked confused.

"What exactly does that mean?" He raised an eyebrow and moved to sit next to Rachel.

"Uh uh, nope. You don't get to sit yet." Rachel pushed Finn away from the bed. "You're going to be dressing up for me today. Or really I should say stripping down for me." She said playfully as she got a wicked grin on her face and Finn's mouth fell open.

"Um, really, what's that supposed to mean?" Finn had an idea what it meant but he was hoping he was wrong.

Rachel threw a strand of purple beads that had been sitting on her bed at Finn. "It means I wanna see some nipples!" Rachel yelled as the beads Finn failed to catch hit the floor. Finn just stood there in slight shock. "Come on, strip!"

Now Finn was really shocked. Rachel wanted him to strip for her. "Um, I'm not really comfortable with this," he stated shyly.

Rachel stared at him then rolled her eyes. "Finn, I danced for you at Christmas and it's not like we haven't seen each other naked. If you do this one little thing for me I promise I'll make it worth your while," Rachel flirted as she unbuttoned a few buttons on her blouse revealing a new lacy bright pink bra.

Finn stared at her chest and gulped. He caved easily. "Fine, but only one song!" he exclaimed seriously. "And I swear if anyone finds out about this, you will regret it missy!"

Rachel laughed as she leaned over to her iPod and hit play on the song she had already set up. To Finn's utter embarrassment Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy began playing. Rachel's face lit up and Finn just shook his head. He could not believe she was making him do this.

As the song played he asked, "Rachel, do I really have to do this? It's so embarra-"

"STRIP!" Rachel yelled as she threw some green beads at him. Finn's cheeks burned hot as he started moving to the beat. He didn't really understand why his girlfriend wanted him to give her a striptease. She knew how bad of a dancer he was. He had broken her nose for Christ's sake! Add in having to remove his clothing at the same time to the most embarrassing song ever and he was bound for disaster.

"Finn, the point of stripping is to remove one's clothes as they dance. Take it off baby!" Rachel demanded loudly throwing a strand of yellow beads at him now.

Finn's lips mushed into a thin line and he shook his head in annoyance. "I feel like I'm being objectified here," he said as he reluctantly started pulling his shirt off.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Finn, this would go much smoother if you'd just relax and go with it. I wanted this, remember? I'm not going to judge you for it," Rachel said noticing Finn's total discomfort. She wanted to enjoy the moment but she couldn't if Finn wouldn't relax.

Finn turned away from Rachel and stopped moving all together for a moment, took a deep breath and collected himself. He listened to the lyrics: 'And I'm too sexy for your party'. As the next line played Finn did the most mortifying thing he could think of and just completely let loose.

He ripped his shirt off over his head and started swinging it around overhead and swaying his hips. He struck a Saturday Night Fever pose at the line about disco dancing and Rachel burst out laughing. He spun around and made a sexy face at her then threw her his shirt.

Rachel cheered him on as he continued to dance to the lyrics. He spun around sassily when the catwalk part came up and then he started removing his pants. He had changed into some comfortable sweat pants so they dropped easily when he pushed them down but they got caught around his ankles. He awkwardly tried to kick them off but tripped a little and practically fell on top of Rachel. She squealed as he recovered and spun back up quickly. He kicked the sweats away and proceeded to do the sprinkler as he thrust his hips out.

Rachel was beside herself. She couldn't believe how much Finn was getting into his little dance now but she was not complaining. Rachel was eating up every moment of it.

Finn 'shook his little tush' as the song said to then began trying to do the running man. He was not succeeding but it didn't matter. Now that Finn was in the middle of his little striptease he found it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. True, he did nearly crush Rachel but besides that she was in love with it. He'd never seen her so giddy.

The next time Finn shook his little tush he even playfully backed up towards Rachel and she smacked it lightly. When she did so, he spun around and wagged his finger at her like she had been a bad girl for touching.

Rachel mock pouted but quickly replaced it with a smile as Finn began doing the cabbage patch. The song had about 30 seconds left now and Finn was not yet sufficiently naked so Rachel threw another pair of purple beads at him. "Take it all off!" she yelled.

Finn caught the beads and put them around his neck then moved his hands down to his waistband. He slowly began shoving his boxers down and as more and more skin was revealed, Rachel's eyes got wider and wider.

Finally they fell to the floor and Finn stood there buck naked. He felt kinda weird continuing to dance around with his junk flailing about so he just stalked forward and pushed Rachel back onto the bed and hovered over top of her. She giggled like a madwoman as Finn kissed her neck and shoulders. The song ended and the only sound in the room was Finn sucking on Rachel's skin and Rachel's laughter.

"So will you make that worth my while now?" Finn asked, hopeful. He'd done some seriously embarrassing stuff in his life before but he thought that had pretty much taken the cake. Thankfully the only one to witness it had been Rachel.

"I'm pleased with your performance so I suppose we can if we have to," Rachel replied, feigning disinterest before giggling again.

Finn got off Rachel and grabbed a condom out of her side table drawer while she took her clothes off. Rachel laid back on her bed and Finn crawled on next to her. She took the condom from him.

"Let me," she said quietly. She rolled on top of him and straddled his thighs. He surprisingly wasn't super hard yet so Rachel had to give him a few good strokes before she tore open the wrapper and rolled the condom down his shaft. He moaned a little at the contact.

Rachel touched herself a bit as Finn watched, licking his lips in anticipation. He loved when Rachel was on top. He could see and feel everything much better plus Rachel could control her own orgasm better. She went up onto her knees and positioned herself over Finn's erect penis. She gripped him to help guide him toward her entrance then sank down onto him, burying his entire member inside her. Rachel let out a little moan then began riding Finn back and forth slowly, almost agonizingly.

"Rach," Finn moaned out as he gripped her hips to help move her. She picked up the pace and her boobs bounced with each movement. Finn ran a hand up Rachel's stomach to her chest and played with her nipple. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of being played with in the best sense of the word.

Rachel leaned back a little and gripped Finn's thighs to steady herself as she switched up her motion. Instead of just moving back and forth, Rachel lifted herself off Finn to allow him to slide out then lowered herself to allow him back in. As Rachel lowered herself, Finn thrust up to meet her.

At her current angle, Finn was pressing on her spot with each thrust and Rachel could feel her orgasm building. While any sex with Finn was amazing, Rachel really loved being on top. It was nice being the one to control the pace and it was easier for Finn to touch her.

"Finn…touch me," Rachel breathed as her eyes closed and she threw her head back. He couldn't believe how hot Rachel looked riding him. Her body glistened with sweat from the exertion and her nipples were taught while her hair fell over her shoulders and framed her face as she moved. He thought in that moment that his life couldn't get any more perfect. Finn moved his hand from her waist over her hip bone and down her lower abdomen. He ran his thumb over her clit and she let out a quick gasp at the contact.

"Oh, Finn," she whined. Rachel's chest heaved as a bead of sweat ran between her breasts. Finn ran his hand up her stomach to catch it and Rachel gripped his fingers in hers as she moved them back down so he could continue to massage her clit. He flicked the nub and she whimpered.

As she lowered down again and Finn ran his thumb over her little bundle of nerves, her body shuddered as she finally came. Her eyelids fluttered while she gripped at Finn's legs to keep herself steady. Then she fell forward onto Finn's chest. She came so hard she nearly blacked out since she had forgotten to breathe. A moment later Finn followed with his own orgasm and a loud guttural moan.

They both lied there sweaty and drained, neither making a move. "That was amazing," Rachel said breathlessly.

"Definitely worth my while," Finn replied deeply.

Finally Rachel sat up and pulled herself off of Finn. She flipped onto her back next to him and just stared at her ceiling, chest heaving and stress free. Finn sat up and swung his legs off the bed to walk to the bathroom and dispose of the condom. When he came out however he looked practically sick.

"Finn, what's wrong?" Rachel asked sitting up, concern on her face.

"It broke."


	11. Are The Irish Weepy Drunks?

Don't kill me, but things are gonna get just a touch angsty.

* * *

><p>It was St. Patrick's Day and Finn and Rachel had barely spoken since their fight on Mardi Gras. She couldn't believe the situation she had found herself in. They had always used a condom but apparently Rachel needed to take more precaution than that. She should have known to take more precaution than just that. A tiny little tear in a flimsy bit of latex was bringing her world down around her.<p>

Every night for the first two and a half weeks after the incident all Rachel could think about was her fight with Finn.

_"What do you mean it broke?" Rachel asked with panic in her voice._

_"I mean, I took the condom off to throw it out but I noticed it was like, leaking. There was a little tear in it," Finn said in a dead voice._

_"What?" Rachel squeaked out. Terror crossed her features and she stood up from the bed and started putting her clothes back on. "But...we, we did everything right."_

_Finn got dressed himself. "Well apparently you did something wrong."_

_"Excuse me?" Rachel said offended. "I wasn't the only one just having sex. This is your fault too!" Had Finn really just blamed her for the condom breaking?_

_"You were the one who opened it and put it on me. It had to have been something you did," Finn said, anger rising in his voice._

_Rachel was losing it now. She had never been so pissed off at Finn. "Fuck you, Finn! This isn't my fault, it's our fault. We both had a part in this!" Rachel started crying. "This can't be happening. I can't…we can't do this."_

_She collapsed onto the bed and Finn just stood there staring at her blankly for a moment. Finally he screwed his head back on and moved to sit next to Rachel. Watching her breaking down in front of him was enough to break him from his fury. Now he was just concerned for Rachel because he knew what an unwanted pregnancy would mean for both of them, but first he needed to apologize. "I'm sorry, Rachel. This isn't your fault, I'm just freaked out. We'll figure this out though. I mean, what are the chances that-"_

_"Get out," Rachel cut Finn off quietly, staring at her floor._

_"What?" Finn asked, his brows knitting together._

_Rachel looked up at Finn with anger, fear and something else Finn couldn't place on her face. Her cheeks were tear streaked and all he wanted to do was kiss away all her worry and tell her everything would be okay. "I said get out, Finn. I want you out of my house. NOW!" Rachel shoved Finn away from her then huddled into a little ball on her bed._

_Finn tried moving back onto the bed to hold her. "Rach, we need talk about this. I'm really sorry about what I-"_

_"JUST GET OUT FINN!" Rachel screamed at him harshly. Finn leaped back from Rachel in surprise at her outburst. Hesitantly, he tried to touch her one more time but she slapped him across the face. Once she saw his shocked expression and realized what she had just done, she cried harder, apologized, put her head in her hands and ran into her bathroom and locked the door._

_Finn moved over to the door and tried speaking to Rachel through it. "Rachel, please come out. I know you're scared but, we, we need to talk."_

"_Just go away, Finn," Rachel cried through the door._

_He didn't want to leave her alone like this but he knew she'd stay in there all night if she had to. Plus, his mother would be expecting him home soon. Feeling hurt and scared beyond belief, Finn shook his head and spoke to the door in a last ditch attempt. "Fine. I'll give you your space but we need to talk about this. I'll see you tomorrow, Rachel. I love you." He stood outside the bathroom for a moment waiting for Rachel to respond or come out. She didn't make a sound. He walked out of the room head hung low._

That had been the last time Rachel had seen Finn outside of school for over three weeks.

The first two and a half had been the worst because Finn kept trying to talk to Rachel about what had happened and what they would do if she were pregnant. He'd try to catch her after school and glee club before she could bolt to her car. He'd follow her home and wait outside her house for hours, despite the cold, begging her to let him in. He'd call and text multiple times a day. He had even tried scaling her house and climbing through the window until Leroy caught him and dragged his ass down. Leroy had told him to let Rachel come to him when she was ready. Her fathers didn't know what was going on exactly but they figured it was just a stupid teenage quarrel.

It wasn't that Rachel didn't want to talk to Finn and try to figure all of it out, she just wanted to wait until she knew with certainty one way or another what was going to happen. The thought of being a teenage mother terrified Rachel, especially after she had promised Carole she wouldn't make Finn a teenaged father. It also meant her New York dreams were in complete jeopardy. There would be no way she could make it in New York as a teenaged mother. It scared her too much to have to face Finn with all that uncertainty on her shoulders. She didn't think she was pregnant, especially since she had gone to the pharmacy to get the Morning After Pill immediately after Finn had left but that would only work to prevent a pregnancy if she were not yet pregnant. Since it had just occurred, Rachel figured the chance of conception was very low, but the thought was still very present in her mind. Anything was possible.

Thankfully, the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day, Rachel's period showed up. She had never been so thankful for that particular pain of womanhood. To make sure something like that would never happen again Rachel finally did what she should have done before her and Finn had ever engaged in intercourse, she asked her fathers to go on the pill.

Immediately they jumped to the correct conclusion that she and Finn were having sex but she didn't deny it. In fact, she spilled about everything she and Finn had been going through for the past few weeks. She was sure her dad was about to pop a blood vessel at her confession but after her daddy calmed him down, they surprisingly understood. Hiram said that he wished she _and_ Finn had come to them sooner so they wouldn't have had to go through that all alone but he understood her apprehension.

The next day they took her to the gynecologist and she went on the pill after gaining a negative result on the pregnancy test they had her take. Despite her period, she still could have been with child. Feeling relieved beyond comprehension, after her appointment she immediately sought out Finn to tell him what was going on.

_When she got to his house Kurt answered the door._ _"Hello Kurt, is Finn home?" Rachel asked brightly, feeling good for the first time in weeks._

_"You don't speak to him or anyone really for weeks and now you show up on my door step all chipper and asking nonchalantly if my brother is home?" Kurt asked somewhat bitterly. He was annoyed that Rachel had been avoiding him just as much as she had Finn. He was also annoyed at Finn for not telling him why Rachel was avoiding the both of them. There wasn't enough warm milk and lady chat in the world to pry it out of Finn._

_Rachel looked taken aback. "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you Kurt but I swear I've had good reason. It's not exactly something I felt comfortable with everyone knowing and you know how information flies around school."_

"_Rachel, what could be so horrible that you would even avoid Finn? You practically died emotionally the last time you hadn't seen each other for nearly a month," Kurt asked seriously. He had dealt with Rachel's longings for Finn for years now. She wasn't one to just stop talking to him altogether, not after all they had been through._

_Rachel looked around her. "Can I please come in? It's cold and I don't want to take the chance of anyone hearing." Kurt stepped aside and let Rachel in. "Is Finn home?"_

"_He and Puck are out doing lord knows what right now. He said he wouldn't be home until later." They headed up to Kurt's room and once there he pounced on Rachel again for an explanation._

"_Kurt, you have to swear that you won't tell anyone this. I'm trusting you to keep your mouth shut." Kurt did a key-in-lock motion at his mouth then threw the non-existent key over his shoulder. He sat patiently on his bed as Rachel paced about his room. Rather than beat around the bush and drag it all out, Rachel cut right to the chase. "I've been avoiding everyone because for the past few weeks I've been afraid that I might be pregnant."_

_Kurt's eyes turned into saucers at this juicy bit of information. "WHAT? You thought you were pregnant?"_

"_Well, not exactly. I wasn't sure. There was just a slim possibility that I could have been. The last time Finn and I were together, he noticed a tear in the condom and then he blamed __**me**__ for the tear and I got pissed off at him because it wasn't just __**my**__ fault. He apologized and I know he was, is, freaked out and he didn't mean what he said but I couldn't deal with him then. Then he kept trying to talk to me about everything but I wasn't ready because I wanted to know if I was pregnant or not before opening that can of worms. I've been trying to keep a level head about all this but I knew if I found out I was pregnant that everything would be ruined. I can't make it in New York with a baby at 17. That could never happen." Rachel began crying and she stopped pacing. Kurt stood up and gave Rachel a comforting hug._

"_Are you pregnant?" Kurt asked point blank as he stared at Rachel. She shook her head no. "Well, thank goodness for that. So New York is still a go. You, me, Finn and Blaine will still attend college there and get our apartment together and…" Kurt trailed off noticing Rachel's expression. "That's still the plan, right?"_

"_I love him," Rachel choked out, "but I can't be with him Kurt. I can't let this happen again. New York means too much to me. I mean I want to be with Finn and marry him and have a family with him someday but not at the expense of New York."_

_Kurt was flabbergasted. He knew Rachel was dead set on New York at all costs but he never thought she really meant at the cost of Finn, at least not seriously. "Rachel, you're being irrational right now. You're just freaking out a little. You love Finn and you want to be with him and you want to share your dream with him. You've told me yourself that you and he have figured out how you will make it work. You can't let one little pregnancy scare ruin your relationship. If you're so worried, go on the pill for backup. Chances of this happening again if you double up are very slim." Kurt was desperate to defend his brother in his absence. If he had to deal with a grieving Finn again, he'd probably pull his perfectly coifed hair from his head. Nothing messed with Finn's emotions more than Rachel._

_Rachel sat down on Kurt's bed. "I'm scared Kurt. I don't know what to do. I want New York but I want Finn too."_

"_Rachel, when are you going to realize you __**can**__ have it all?" Kurt sat next to Rachel and put his hand on her back._

_She sighed. "So what do you think I should do?"_

Rachel had stayed with Kurt discussing the situation until her fathers had called her and said she needed to come home. Finn still hadn't shown up. She had wanted to tell him the news in person that she wasn't pregnant so she texted him that she really needed to talk to him. He didn't text back however.

The next day when Rachel saw Finn at school she pulled him into an empty classroom during lunch and finally explained why she had been avoiding him and told him she wasn't pregnant. He seemed relieved at the news but something was off. He seemed distant. Nothing like how he had been prior to this whole thing. She figured he'd be a little upset at the lack of communication but she really thought once she explained he'd forgive her and understand and they could resume their lives. This new behavior continued for the next few days however. Rachel figured Finn would come around eventually but it seemed like he was now trying to avoid Rachel.

Rachel sat in her car outside Puck's house contemplating all that had happened since Mardi Gras. She watched the kids entering the house and she could hear all the music and rambunctious students from across the street. She thought for sure the cops would be called eventually but she had to talk to Finn and figure out what was going on with him now. After being almost completely ignored for nearly five whole days, Rachel could understand how Finn must have felt being ignored for two and a half weeks. She regretted every second that she spent avoiding Finn. It wasn't fair to either of them.

She got out of her car finally after all her contemplation and made her way toward Puck's front door. This St. Patty's Day party blew both Rachel Berry House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza's out of the water as far as the debauchery went. Kids from every grade and every clique were present at this party and they were getting crazy. Furniture was strewn about the lawn and a few windows were smashed. Kids were puking everywhere and Rachel could have sworn she saw a couple having sex on the couch in the middle of the living room in front of everyone. She could hear splashes coming from the backyard like people were swimming even though it was only in the low 40's that night. Rachel had to find Finn and fast. She did not want to stay in crazy town any longer than necessary.

After searching the downstairs twice she had only been able to find Puck and a few other glee club members. When she found Puck on her second search of the floor, he told her he had last seen Finn before he went upstairs to "take a leak" as Puck put it. Rachel carefully made her way upstairs trying to avoid getting any alcohol or bodily fluids on her. She couldn't believe Puck's party had gotten this out of hand.

She found the bathroom and saw the door was closed and a line was formed along the wall to use it. The girl at the front however was banging on the door loudly and yelling about how long the dude had been in there. Rachel wondered if that was Finn.

"Do you know who's in there?" she asked the drunken girl, speaking loudly to be heard over the music.

"It's the tall cute quarterback with that annoying short girlfriend. He's been in the bathroom all night whining about her. I just really need to pee," the girl said as she banged on the door again.

Ignoring the girl's comments about her, Rachel banged on the door herself and called out to Finn. "Finn, open the door baby. It's me Rachel." She could hear loud banging and shuffling coming through the door before it flew open. Rachel came face to face with a very drunk Finn who looked like he was about to pass out.

"Rachel, come in!" he said loudly, pulling Rachel into the bathroom and closing the door again before she could protest. She could hear the girl right outside the door groan. "Rachel, I love you so much." Finn pulled her into a big hug and sniffed her hair.

"I love you too, Finn. Why don't we get out of the bathroom and go home? There's a line outside and I think you'll feel better at home," Rachel suggested.

"No! You can't leave. I love you too much!" Finn exclaimed, panic in his voice.

"Finn, I'm just going to take you home."

Finn released Rachel and slid down the wall onto the floor refusing to move. Rachel was so confused as to what was going on. This wasn't like Finn at all. "Finn, what is going on?" Rachel asked kneeling in front of him.

"I want you Rachel but you don't want me as much as I want you. I thought you did but you don't. You're going to break up with me." A tear slid down Finn's face. Rachel was at a loss for words. How had Finn come to that conclusion? Yeah, they had been going through a rough patch and Rachel had thought about breaking up with Finn after the scare but that was just a moment of hysterics taking over. Once she calmed down and really thought about things she knew that no matter what, she wanted Finn with her for as long as he would have her. They were better together than they were apart. Rachel had never mentioned to Finn that she had thoughts of breaking up with him. So why did he think she did?

She ran her hand through his hair then placed it on his cheek. "Finn, what makes you think I'm going to break up with you?"

He sniffled a bit. "Kurt said you wanted to break up with me because you couldn't let something like this happen again. New York is too important."

Rachel was mad now. She had trusted Kurt to keep their conversation between them. Why had he told Finn about her brief freak out? Kurt was there when Rachel had come to the conclusion that she wanted Finn in her life just as badly as she wanted Broadway; that she needed Finn as much as she needed Broadway. So why was he telling Finn that she wanted to break up with him?

"Finn, I don't know why Kurt told you that, but I'm _not_ breaking up with you. I love you and even though I freaked out a little, I know that life is just better with you in it. I love Broadway and I want to be there, but I want you there with me. I need you there, Finn." Rachel leaned forward and pulled Finn in for a comforting hug.

He wrapped his arms around Rachel and pulled her against him. "I'm sorry Rachel. I'm so sorry," he cried into her chest. Apparently Finn could become the weepy drunk under the right circumstances.

"It's okay, Finn. Everything will be okay. Let's just get you home, alright?" Rachel said as she pried herself from Finn's grasp. With some difficulty, Rachel helped Finn to his feet but before she could usher him out the door he turned toward the bathtub and vomited. He heaved a few times then slumped over the edge of the tub. Rachel had feared he passed out finally until he slowly pushed himself up and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. She'd have to help clean him up once they got back to his house.

Twenty minutes later Rachel threw Finn's house door open and helped Finn stumble inside. He was getting heavier by the minute. She called out to see if anyone was home. Kurt came rushing down the stairs. "Oh my…what the hell? Has he been drinking?" he asked Rachel as he threw Finn's arm over his shoulder and helped Rachel carry him upstairs.

"Yes, because apparently you told him I was going to break up with him!" Rachel said angrily.

Kurt looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to. It just slipped out because Finn came home that night still looking all depressed and he just looked like a little broken puppy so I couldn't help but spill. I did tell him that you _were not_ breaking up with him though. He must not have registered that part of the conversation."

Finally they made it to Finn's room and threw him down onto the bed. He wasn't quite passed out yet but he was close. Rachel just wanted to get him out of his messed up clothes and clean his mouth out before he fell into unconsciousness. He'd feel much better waking up then.

"I don't understand why he was avoiding me though. Why didn't he tell me that he thought I was going to break up with him?" Rachel asked looking at Kurt as she began pulling Finn's clothes off him.

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know. Honestly, he's been avoiding me too. I keep trying to chat with him but he shuts me out. Not even my rum chocolate soufflé got him out of his room."

Rachel looked at Kurt again. "Do you think your parents would mind if I spent the night? I really need to talk to Finn when he's sober in the morning."

"My parents aren't even home this weekend. I don't have a problem with it." Kurt walked over to the door. "I'll leave you two alone. You might want to leave the trash can by his bed in case he decides to give back all that alcohol he had."

"Thanks for the tip but he already puked. I think he'll be fine."

Kurt said goodnight and left Rachel and Finn alone. She left to go into the bathroom he and Kurt shared and grabbed some mouth wash but by the time Rachel returned Finn was passed out completely. She called her fathers and said she'd be spending the night at Finn's but not to worry about them doing anything because he was sick, sort of, then crawled into bed next to him and just lied there until she felt Finn roll onto his side and pull her against him. Rachel was pretty sure Finn didn't realize he had done it but it felt nice to be back in his arms after so long.

Even though it had been scary and somewhat traumatizing the last time, Rachel missed being physically intimate with Finn. She never felt closer to him, not just physically but emotionally as well, than when they were connected like that. She didn't want to lose everything over a tiny little tear that didn't even lead to anything. They would talk everything over in the morning and work it all out. They couldn't keep avoiding each other; that was almost as bad for their relationship as not telling each other the truth.

That night Rachel fell asleep in Finn's arms thinking about what was ahead for her and Finn. They had to get past this otherwise they'd be doomed.

When Finn woke the next morning he had the worst headache ever and his mouth felt disgusting. The light streaming in through his window was hurting his eyes and his body ached everywhere. He shifted to roll out of his bed to go pee but found a body lying beside him. He recognized Rachel's hair and light snore immediately and smiled. She had spent the night with him.

Trying not to disturb her slumber, Finn climbed out of bed as quietly as he could. He needed to clean up a bit before waking Rachel and having the conversation he should have had with her the moment he found out. He didn't remember everything but he knew he had said something to Rachel about his fear of her breaking up with him. Finn couldn't believe he had actually become the weepy drunk in front of Rachel.

After quickly cleaning up, Finn returned to his room to find Rachel awake and leaning back against his headboard. "Hi," he said quietly as he got back into his bed. "Did I wake you?"

Rachel shook her head yes. "That's okay though. We really need to talk, otherwise we are never going to get over this." Finn shook his head in agreement. "I'm not breaking up with you Finn. I was just scared about what happened and I had a hysterical moment in front of Kurt. Once I calmed down though, I knew I couldn't break up with you. You're too important to me. I _do_ want you as much as you want me. Finn, at this point, I can't imagine New York without you." Rachel grabbed his hand and ran her thumb over the back of it. She stared at him and bit her lip. Finn gave her a lopsided grin. "That's why I'm confused as to why you've been avoiding me ever since I told you I wasn't pregnant. Before that I couldn't get rid of you even if I had tried to beat you off with a stick," Rachel joked slightly.

Finn stared down in front of him. "That day you came over and talked to Kurt, I got a letter from NYU." Rachel raised her eyebrows as she stared at her boyfriend with rapt attention. "It was a rejection letter." Her face fell at his words.

"I'm so sorry, Finn. But you applied to practically every school in the city. That's just one out of all of them. Have you heard back, good or bad, from any of the other schools?" Finn shook his head no. "See? There are still plenty of opportunities," Rachel said optimistically.

"Yeah I know. I guess I just had my own hysterical moment when Kurt said you wanted to break up with me. Getting that rejection letter and hearing that, it just made me feel like I was going to lose you and I can't. I was avoiding you so I wouldn't have to deal with you breaking up with me. I can't picture my life without you in it." Finn turned to look at Rachel seriously. "I know people say that we're too young to really know what love is and be so serious but when it comes to us, they're wrong. I know everyone says that but, I really feel it."

Rachel nodded softly. "I feel that way too. Obviously we're still very young and have a lot of growing to do but I want to do it with you. So from now on, in addition to no more lying, no more avoiding; we _have_ to communicate no matter how hard we think it will be. We can't keep acting like little kids every time things get difficult if we want this relationship to work for the long term. We have to grow from a high school relationship into an adult one."

"Okay, no more avoiding," Finn said evenly. He leaned forward and kissed Rachel. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They still had a lot to talk about and work through but Rachel was confident that from here on out things would get better. At the time it happened a torn condom seemed like the worst thing ever, but looking back maybe it had been a blessing in disguise. Sometimes relationships needed testing to see how strong they were. Rachel knew that no matter what happened now, she and Finn would make it through together.

* * *

><p>Aw, happy ending. I promise you, this will be the only angst from here on out. So prepare yourselves for regularly scheduled fluffy and smutty Finchel. :)<p> 


	12. Better Than Playboy

Just want to say thank you again to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited and alerted this story. I love writing it and I'm so happy you all enjoy it. :)

* * *

><p>It was Easter and Rachel was impatiently waiting for Finn in his living room to return home from breakfast with Kurt and Blaine. The only one who knew she was sitting in his house was Kurt because he had helped her plan this whole thing. She wanted to surprise Finn and the only way she could do that was to have a co-conspirator.<p>

It had been six weeks and four days since the last time Finn and Rachel had had sex and both of them had been going a little crazy. Ever since the Mardi Gras incident Rachel had been somewhat apprehensive about jumping back into the sack. She wanted to give her body some time to get used to the birth control and she honestly was still a little freaked out. No matter how freaked out she had been though, around week five her hormones were getting the better of her and she was ready to move on from the experience. The only problem had been that they hadn't been able to find a good time or place.

That week Carole had vacation time so to her surprise, Burt had booked them a "Cruise-to-Nowhere" that weekend leaving from New York City. She had felt somewhat bad about missing Easter but Kurt and Finn had assured her that it wasn't a big deal. No one in the house was really religious and as for the Easter Bunny, neither had received a basket from him for years. They also really urged her not to feel bad because they both just wanted Burt and Carole out of the house. It wasn't every day that they had the place to themselves.

This was where Kurt came in. Upon learning that Burt and Carole would be gone for the weekend, Rachel came up with the idea that she and Kurt should surprise their boyfriends with special dates. Kurt liked the idea and so began the planning. Kurt would take Saturday as Rachel had to be home for Passover but she could do Sunday morning. While Rachel's family wasn't that strict on following all the rules of Judaism, they did like to have seder on the first and second nights of the holiday.

Kurt had planned a beautiful and romantic quiet night in for him and Blaine and Rachel had assisted by helping make dinner while Kurt got ready and getting Finn out of the house. He joined her family for seder and even though he was very confused by the whole tradition he really appreciated being able to share in the experience with Rachel. Finn also appreciated Leroy letting him into the house with his manhood still connected to his body. He could tell he _really_ wasn't Leroy's favorite person.

The next morning it was Kurt's turn to assist Rachel with her date. All Rachel asked of Kurt was that he take Finn to breakfast around nine am and not allow him back into the house until at least 11. She needed some prep time. Rachel also requested that Kurt make himself scarce after dropping Finn back off at the house. It was nearing 11:30 and Kurt still hadn't texted that they were on their way back yet.

"What the hell?" Rachel practically screamed to the empty room. She was getting severely annoyed at the situation and she was getting cold. It was early April, not August. Sitting around waiting in the most scandalous outfit she had ever purchased seemed to be turning out to be a horrible idea. Until she finally received a text from Kurt that they would be there in about two minutes.

Rachel quickly checked her appearance in the mirror and was very satisfied. This was by far the most revealing of any of the cute little outfits she had ever worn for Finn. Obviously he'd seen her completely nude before but Rachel personally thought there was something more alluring about showing off just the littlest bits of skin. It kept a sense of mystery to everything and it was fun to have Finn undress her.

She checked that the jelly bean trail she had made from the door to where she was waiting was still intact and quickly went back to her seat. Seconds later she heard the door open. Rachel could hear Finn putting his keys on the table and assumed he was hanging up his coat. Then she heard his footsteps coming towards her. Her heart raced at the anticipation.

Finn thought it was weird that Kurt and Blaine weren't coming into the house. The place was empty and they could pretty much have the whole upstairs to themselves as Finn would be too busy playing videogames on the big screen in the living room. He wouldn't even notice Kurt and Blaine up there. Rachel had said she was busy with Passover or whatever so she couldn't come over which was disappointing. They hadn't spent any alone time together in weeks and Finn missed her. This weekend would have been the perfect opportunity to reconnect.

As Finn waved goodbye to Kurt and Blaine from the door, he entered the house. He locked the door then put his keys on the table like always and turned to remove his jacket to hang on the hook. That was when he noticed the jelly beans on the floor. He hung his coat up and followed the line of the colorful candy in the direction of the living room. As he rounded the corner his mouth dropped at the sight before him.

There Rachel was, sitting on the rocking chair his mother had just bought for the living room in the sexiest thing Finn had ever seen. It was a white lacy teddy that had halter straps and a V that went all the way down to just above Rachel's panty line. The only thing keeping the two pieces of fabric that covered Rachel's boobs from completely uncovering her chest was a little strip of lace that connected the two parts right underneath her breasts. The lace fabric wrapped around her lower back and through the sheer skirt that barely covered anything, Finn could see the lacy lower half of the teddy she wore. On her feet were some pale pink heels and on her head were some pale pink bunny ears. He was willing to bet that a little pale pink cotton tail had been conveniently placed on her backside as well.

"Happy Easter, Finn. I'm sorry this bunny didn't bring you a basket of candy but I did bring you something else that's pretty sweet," Rachel said in a low, playful voice as she stood up and sashayed over to Finn. He had yet to move a muscle. When she reached him, Rachel leaned forward and placed the gentlest of kisses on his neck. That seemed to knock him out of his stupor.

He gulped. "What are, uh, are you doing here? I thought you had Passover or something," Finn asked as he looked at Rachel. She smiled shyly at him.

"I fibbed a little so I could surprise you. I do need to be home by five o'clock though so we should make the most of the time we have together." Rachel leaned up and locked her lips with Finn's. She started maneuvering him around the living room to get him back over to the rocking chair. When the backs of his legs hit it, Rachel pried herself off Finn and pushed him down into the chair. He pulled his shirt off and Rachel undid his pants. Finn pushed his hips up so Rachel could pull his jeans off but she left his boxers on.

Rachel placed her knees on either side of Finn's thighs and straddled him. The chair rocked forward with the shift in weight that Rachel forgot to account for and she nearly flew off, losing her bunny ears in the process, but Finn had managed to catch her. "D'you wanna move to the couch instead?" he asked as the chair steadied.

"No, I like this chair. I just have to remember to balance." Rachel put her hands on the back of the chair to steady herself then sat her butt on Finn's thighs. She could see the tent growing in his boxers and smiled. It had been weeks since she had induced such a reaction in Finn. Rachel didn't realize just how much she missed it until that moment.

This time, accounting for the shift in weight, Rachel leaned forward to kiss Finn again and ran her hands down his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around Rachel and pulled her against him and moaned as he felt her nipples press into his chest. No matter how many times he felt that, it never failed to elicit a sound of pleasure from him.

Finn ran his hands up and down Rachel's back and sides as she moved her hands down to his waistband. She teasingly ran a finger along the top of it then slowly pulled it down letting his erection free. Rachel pulled her mouth from Finn's and stared down at it. She licked her lips and gently ran her fingertips over the sensitive skin. Finn's head fell back and he took in a sharp breath.

Rachel grabbed one of the condoms she had sitting on the table next to the chair and carefully opened it. Carefully and very slowly she rolled it onto Finn to be sure it wasn't her that could cause another tear. Once she was satisfied, Rachel pulled the now extremely wet fabric covering her center to the side and dipped her finger into herself. She bit her lip and stared at Finn as he watched her play with herself. It was a huge turn on for him.

Once Rachel had spread the wetness around to really get herself going she was more than ready to get Finn inside her. She grabbed the back of the chair again and shifted forward so that all she had to do was push the chair back and Finn would be thrust up into her. Rachel held herself as still on the chair as she could and pushed back.

"Oh God," she moaned out as he pushed into her. Rachel sank lower onto him, wanting him as deep inside her as he could get. Continuing to try holding herself still, Rachel moved the chair again. Finn understood now why Rachel didn't want to move to the couch so he helped her by rocking the chair himself.

Rachel moved her hands to Finn's shoulders and looked down to watch him entering her over and over again. While it felt good it didn't feel all out amazing, at least not until she angled her hips forward a little. At the new angle and with the rocking, Rachel barely had to do any work. She closed her eyes and just let the sensation take over her body. Every thrust brought her closer and closer to achieving that sweet release but just before she could feel herself let go, she pulled herself off Finn. He whined in disappointment. "What are you doing?" he said through ragged breath.

She stood up and pulled him up from the chair. They walked over to the couch, Rachel pulled his boxers down then she pushed him on to it. He loved her forcefulness.

"I want to try something," was all she said as she kicked her heels off and placed a foot on the couch to step over Finn. Her lady parts were right in Finn's face before she sat down in his lap keeping her knees bent against his torso. Finn was very excited. He and Rachel had never tried this position before, not that they'd had sex on a rocking chair prior either… Finn thought the day was just beyond awesome at that point.

Rachel guided him to her opening again and once he was inside her she leaned back as far as she could and placed her hands on the floor. She had remembered just a few moments ago a position she had read about in Cosmo and now she wanted to try it. Rachel began thrusting her hips back and forth and as she did so she opened and closed her legs.

Finn let out a moan as he felt Rachel's walls clamping around him tightly. He looked down at her thrusting up and down on him and he knew he'd never be able to forget the image of Rachel's wet center gliding over his penis again and again and again. Really though, he never wanted to. This was by far the hottest thing they had ever done. She just rode him like that for what seemed like forever until he could finally feel himself getting ready to explode. "Rachel," he breathed out. He could hear her whimper in response and knew she was getting close herself.

For a moment Rachel looked up at Finn and could see the familiar 'o' forming on his face signaling that he was about to come. She could also feel him twitching inside her. Rachel arched her back to try to pull herself up to meet Finn again but as she did so Finn hit her spot right on and she shuddered suddenly gaining her own release.

Rachel cried out in ecstasy as her body trembled at the force of her orgasm and her back arched even more as her legs tightened around Finn. The fantastic sensation lasted for about twenty seconds and as soon as it was over she slumped down like all her bones had turned to jelly. She had been so wrapped up in her own orgasm she wasn't even sure if Finn had had his.

Once she sat up about a minute later though, she had her answer. Finn was gripping Rachel's thighs lightly and his head was back against the couch with his eyes closed. He looked so peaceful and euphoric. Rachel slid off him but leaned against his chest, her head next to his. Finn turned his face and kissed her forehead. "You are the most awesome girlfriend ever," Finn stated with a lopsided grin.

Rachel smiled at Finn's words. She could never get enough adoration from him, especially after sex. It was nice to know that all her hard work was appreciated in every aspect of her life. "I love you," Rachel said before planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

"I love you," Finn replied looking directly into Rachel's eyes. Before he could lean in to give her a kiss and possibly get things going again, Rachel stood up quickly and began to walk away. Confused, Finn stood up himself. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know about you, but I'd like to take advantage of the fact that no one is home. I'm going to the kitchen." Rachel winked at Finn and as she turned around to continue walking, she untied the strings at her neck and let the fabric fall away from her body. With a sly grin on his face, Finn grabbed the condoms on the table next to the rocking chair and quickly followed Rachel into the kitchen.

He may not have received any chocolate that Easter, but Rachel wasn't lying when she said she brought him something sweet. They had sex in practically every room of the house, except his parents' or Kurt's because that would just be creepy, and every time Finn felt like he and Rachel were growing closer and closer. They had finally moved on from Mardi Gras. Yeah, Easter was definitely Finn's new favorite holiday.

* * *

><p>Just a quick piece of info about Mardi Gras since GeekyGleek asked and I can't pm. That was not originally a holiday I was going to write about but once I remembered it and realized the date, it fit in perfectly with what I wanted to do for St. Patrick's Day so you all got an extra smutty chapter before all the angst. Also, even though they're in Ohio I see no reason they wouldn't know about Mardi Gras. I live in Buffalo, NY and I know about it and know people who celebrate it. Rachel was just using it as an excuse to get Finn naked. Nothing wrong with that if you ask me. lol Also a little spoiler alert, a left over question from Valentine's Day may be answered in the next chapter. )<p> 


	13. Dos Equis

Surprisingly this is the longest chapter I've written. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

><p>It was Cinco de Mayo and Finn and Rachel were in the midst of enjoying their alone time together when Rachel's phone began ringing. Normally Rachel wasn't one to stop Finn in the middle of performing oral on her for any reason but she couldn't take the chance of missing a call from her dads. They trusted her alone in the house for a weekend for the first time since finding out she and Finn were very sexually active and they told her if she missed a single call from them they would come straight home. This basically meant they called her every half hour since departing at eight that morning. It was 4:20 in the afternoon.<p>

Finn pulled away from Rachel and groaned. Her dads had been seriously cock blocking him all day. It was like they knew the moment they left that Rachel had called him and invited him over.

Rachel had been lying parallel to her pillows with Finn kneeling on the floor on the right side of her bed. She had scooched on her back to the other side of her bed to grab her phone from her side table while her upper body almost hung off the bed trying to reach it. "Hello?" Rachel said somewhat breathless as she answered the phone without looking at who was calling.

"Hey Berry," Santana's raspy voice said through the receiver. "What are you doing right now?"

Rachel was surprised. Santana hadn't ever called her before for any reason and now she was calling her at the most inconvenient time ever just to chat? "Santana? Um, I'm kinda busy right no-OOOW," Rachel called out loudly as she felt Finn go back between her legs. She pulled her head up to glance down at him. He was gently kissing her oversensitive skin and as he looked up at her, his eyes smoldered and he smirk.

"Seriously, I need to know what you're doing right now because I'm having a glee girls get together at my house for Cinco de Mayo and it has come to my attention that you are in fact a glee girl so I guess that means you're invited. If you do choose to come I need you to pick up some stuff for me on your way over," Santana explained. Rachel was barely paying attention though.

After Rachel had said it was Santana, Finn felt the need to continue what he had been doing. He figured it would only be a matter of minutes before her dads were the ones calling so he didn't want to waste any of that precious time on a phone call with Santana. Rachel tried pushing his head away from her so she could at least be polite and say goodbye coherently, but he just gripped Rachel's free hand and pinned it to the bed. Her other hand still held her phone to her ear.

Finn buried his face back into her and flicked his tongue into her opening. Rachel's back arched slightly and Finn held her body to him by wrapping the arm that wasn't holding her free hand down around her thigh. She tried pulling away but that just caused her to inch farther off the bed as Finn had moved forward with her, his mouth still connected to her body.

"Hello? Are you coming?" Santana shouted loud enough that Finn could hear. _She has no idea_, Finn thought to himself. He ran his tongue up to Rachel's clit and circled it gently. This elicited a very loud gasp/moan/Finn combination from her.

"Rachel? Holy fuck, are you and Finn having sex?" Finn could hear Santana yell again.

He just continued lapping at Rachel. "Yes, yes," Rachel said breathily at Finn's tongue's caress. Only Santana thought she was speaking to her.

"What the fuck Rachel? Why are you on the phone with me? Why am I still talking to you? Call me when you're done." With that Santana hung up the phone and Rachel threw hers behind her against her closet door.

Her head hung over the edge of the bed and Finn released her hand. She threw her arms back limply to brace herself if she ended up falling back off the bed but she also found that it gave her a very heady feeling. All the blood was rushing to her brain and she felt tingly all over, not just where she usually did.

Blood pounded in her ears as she felt Finn suck on her nub and push his fingers into her at the same time. He pulled away just enough so his mouth was barely touching her clit then lightly blew cold air onto her before latching his lips onto her clit again. Rachel shook as her orgasm took hold and she moaned and whimpered louder than ever. Her walls contracted rapidly and her over sensitized clit pulsed between Finn's lips. She would have slid off the bed if Finn hadn't of wrapped his arms around her legs. She started feeling dizzy as she hung upside staring at her closet, eyelids fluttering wildly. Then she saw nothing.

"Rachel!" Finn yelled in her face, a great look of concern and panic on his own. She looked at him trying to remember what was going on. _Holy shit_, Rachel thought to herself.

"I blacked out," she said evenly. "Finn, I _blacked_ out." Rachel smiled and bit her lip as she wrapped her arms around Finn's neck. Rachel was giddy. "Very impressive, Mr. Hudson."

Finn looked at his girlfriend with bewilderment. She had just blacked out! That wasn't a good thing. "Rach, are you okay? I mean, you lost consciousness. That can't be a good thing." Finn was genuinely worried.

Rachel pulled his face down to hers to kiss him. "I am fabulous, Finn. That was mind-blowing. You made me orgasm so hard I blacked out. I wish I could always feel that good, but without the blacking out part." Finn raised an eyebrow at her.

"So, I'm just that good, huh?" Finn said with a smirk.

"I guess so." Rachel giggled and made to sit up. Finn moved off her and propped himself up on one elbow. Rachel moved off the bed and grabbed Finn's t-shirt to put on as she walked into the bathroom to clean up.

"What did Santana want?" Finn asked as he noticed Rachel's phone lying on the floor when he got up to put his boxers back on.

"Crap!" Rachel yelled as she rushed out of the bathroom. She punched Finn in the arm. "What is wrong with you? Why would you do that while I was on the phone?"

"Ow." Finn rubbed the area she hit. It didn't really hurt but she had caught him off-guard. "You didn't seem to mind," he offered smugly.

"Finn, that is so rude. Now Santana knows what we were doing! She's going to tell everyone and once again I will be humiliated." Rachel huffed and plopped down on her bench, arms crossed. Finn sat next to her and hugged her to him, placing his cheek on top of her head.

"You are such a drama queen." Rachel scoffed at his statement. "Rach, who really cares if people know we're having sex? They already _do_ know actually." Rachel looked offended.

"Why do they know our private business?" Rachel's lips thinned.

Finn ran his hand through his hair ashamedly. "Puck was sorta getting on me the one day in the weight room about 'sealing the deal' with you finally otherwise my balls might shrivel up and fall off and I wasn't going to stoop to his level and say anything but then Trace said something about you being too prude to be a good lay anyway and I couldn't let him get away with that. I kinda told them that we'd been having sex since Christmas and that you give the best deep throat blowjobs ever."

Rachel was horrified. There was so much about Finn's confession that she did not approve of. How dare Puck make fun of Finn for not having sex with her and how dare Trace call her a prude and a bad lay? And how dare Finn tell them something as personal as all that even if he was trying to defend her honor in a weird way?

"I'm sorry, Rachel. It all just fell out before I could think about what I was saying. Trace just pissed me off so much." Finn put his head in his hands feeling so guilty.

"While I appreciate you sticking up for me, I do not like the way you did so. They don't need to know intimate details about what we do when we're alone." Rachel rubbed Finn's back consolingly.

"I know, I'm sorry. If it ever happens again I promise I will try to think before I speak." Finn looked at Rachel. "Seriously though, what did Santana want that she was actually calling you?"

She shook her head. "I really don't even know. I wasn't paying much attention because someone thought it would be nice to distract me." Rachel smiled sarcastically. "I vaguely remember her telling me to call her back when we were done."

Rachel grabbed her phone from the floor and called Santana back.

"Are you fucking serious? Who answers the phone when they're in the middle of fucking? _I_ don't even do that!" Santana said in lieu of a proper greeting.

"Hello to you too, Santana; what did you call me for?"

Santana sighed. "I was calling you because I'm having a girls' night for Cinco de Mayo. While I try very hard to keep from making eye contact with you for fear my face will melt off, you are sometimes okay, especially when you're drunk, so you are welcome to come over if you want. If you'd rather suck on Finn's junk than suck down some beer though, I'll understand."

Rachel blushed at Santana's words. "You're inviting me to your party?" she asked meekly, somewhat stunned. Rachel never thought in a million years Santana would actually ask Rachel if she wanted to hang out with her. Sure she went to both Rachel Berry House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza's but Rachel assumed that was mostly due to the alcohol and other people who would be there. But now here she was being asked by Santana herself to a party that she wasn't throwing.

"I'm speaking English, right? Yes, you are invited to my party," Santana puffed into the phone.

Rachel felt so emotional. "I'd love to come. What time should I arrive?"

"Britt, Riley, Mercedes and Quinn are already here so you can come over whenever. On your way though would you be able to pick up some bean dip. We're running low because Brittany just had to bring Lord Tubbington and he ate all of it. And if you wanna get yourself some vegan ice cream and milk, we're making mudslide milkshakes."

"Sounds good! I'll be over within the hour," Rachel confirmed before saying goodbye and hanging up. "Finn, you need to get dressed and go home. I'm going to Santana's for the evening."

Finn looked taken aback. "But I thought I was gonna spend the night? You're ditching me for Santana? Santana Lopez?" he asked incredulously.

Rachel headed into the bathroom and turned on her shower. She needed to wash the sweat and sex off her before heading out. "Finn, you're more than welcome to come back when I get home. I'm just going to have a little girl time with all the girls from glee. I may never get asked again considering the little time we have left together. This is the first time I've ever been invited to a party and didn't have to throw it myself. I am not including Puck's disaster on St. Patrick's Day either. I wasn't technically invited to it and I was only there looking for you." She pulled Finn's shirt off and handed it to him.

Finn followed her into the bathroom. "If it's a party why don't I just come with you?" He tried to get into the shower with Rachel but she stopped him.

"Santana said it was for the glee _girls_. And Finn, I need to shower alone right now. I told her I'd be there within the hour with bean dip. I don't have time for another round." Rachel pulled the curtain closed leaving Finn standing there pouty. He couldn't believe he was being blown off for Santana!

"I can come back later though, right?" he verified.

"Absolutely. In fact, if you want to drive me over there and pick me up that would be fine."

Finn nodded. "Okay. You're making this up to me though. This is prime sex time we're wasting!" Rachel chuckled as she pulled the curtain back to look at him.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see," he replied before walking out of the bathroom to get the rest of his clothes on.

Nearly a full hour and two dad phone calls later, assuring them she would be with the glee girls for the rest of the night so they could stop calling her every half hour, Finn pulled into Santana's driveway to drop Rachel off. He kissed her goodbye and told her to call him when she was ready to come home. She grabbed the bag of food and headed toward the door, waving goodbye to Finn as he pulled out of the driveway. Santana answered the door before Rachel could even knock.

"Did Finn's penis go limp? Is that why you're here?" Santana said before laughing playfully. She pulled Rachel into the house and closed the door. "I'll take that." Santana grabbed the bag of bean dip and ice cream and headed into the kitchen where Rachel could hear girls squealing. It appeared that Rachel had been the last to arrive. When she walked into the kitchen all the girls welcomed her and Marie and Mercedes hugged her.

"Glad to see you could pry yourself away from Finn long enough to come hang out with us. I guess I know why you never want to hang out with Kurt and me anymore," Mercedes said as she waggled her eyebrows at Rachel. Rachel's face went beet red.

"Santana told you about that?" Rachel mumbled.

Quinn spoke. "She didn't have to tell us, you were on speaker phone. We all heard it." Now Rachel looked mortified.

Santana smirked at Rachel as she handed her a Corona with lime that Rachel hadn't even asked for. "I must say, based on the sounds you were making, either you're very easy to please or Finn has improved a lot. When we had sex, he was awful. I didn't even get off before he made that stupid 'o' face he makes." She took a swig of her own Corona.

Rachel glanced at the floor. Though she accepted that Finn and Santana had been together, that didn't mean she liked talking about it. It was like Santana knew a part of Finn that only Rachel should have known and now she was making fun of that part. "He's actually very good in bed," Rachel stated boldly looking back up at Santana. "Once you hung up with me he actually made me black out I came so hard."

Quinn dropped the spoon she had been using to shovel her mudslide milkshake into her mouth with on the floor while Marie's mouth dropped in shock. All the other girls stopped what they were doing and looked at Rachel as well. Santana looked surprised but impressed. "What the hell position were you in?"

Rachel blushed and answered shyly. "He was actually performing oral-"

"Hold on, you blacked out just from Finn going down on you?" Tina interrupted in astonishment. "That's impressive."

"Who knew Finn had it in him?" Santana said going back to making more milkshakes.

The conversation luckily moved on from there. Rachel felt somewhat hypocritical now. She had just chastised Finn earlier for divulging their intimate secrets to his friends and now she had just done the same. Rachel could kind of see what Finn had meant when it just fell out. She had to defend his abilities in bed.

About an hour later the girls all found themselves sitting in Santana's living room drinking their mudslide milkshakes or Corona. They were in the middle of a game of no holds barred Truth or Dare and it was now Rachel's turn. Based on the dares the other girls had performed already, Rachel felt it was safer to go with truth.

"How big is Finn, ya know, down there?" Marie asked for Rachel's truth.

"Do I really need to answer this?" Rachel whined.

"YES!" the group yelled at her. She started a little then took a sip of her milkshake.

"Fine! I've never measured exactly but maybe to about here?" Rachel said as she showed them on her arm how long he was. Marie whistled. "And he's pretty big in girth too."

Santana shook her head. "I can confirm that. I'll give the guy that much credit."

Wanting to move on, Rachel asked Brittany truth or dare and dared her to run up and down the street singing I'm A Little Teapot. All the girls stood outside watching Brittany run around. For some reason she was just in her underwear. That hadn't been part of the dare but Brittany didn't seem to care.

As they watched, Santana's next door neighbor came over. "Hello ladies," Trace said in what he thought was a smooth voice. "Brittany have a bit too much to drink again?"

"Go away, Trace. This is a glee girls only party. I told you that before," Santana replied annoyed. "Seriously, get back to your hole in the wall."

"I'll leave when you go back inside," he replied. He put his hands in his pockets and moved next to Rachel. "So, how serious are you and Finn?"

Rachel raised her eyebrow at the notoriously horny sophomore. "Very, so don't even think of hitting on me. Finn has got about six inches on you and at least 20 pounds. He will not hesitate to beat you up if you continue to make advances at me and I don't want to have to deal with that."

"Damn, he just made your blowjobs sound so good. I was hoping to maybe get one." Rachel's jaw dropped and she smacked Trace across the face.

"You are a disgusting pig! Don't ever come near me again!" Rachel yelled at him. She stormed back into Santana's house and the other girls burst into laughter.

Once everyone was back inside and the laughter had died down so they could actually speak, Brittany asked Riley truth or dare. She chose truth.

"Are you a lesbian? Because you made out with Santana at Halloween and I want to know if it's because you love her…and if you'd make out with me," Brittany said to the room's amazement. Everyone remembered that night but no one ever really spoke of what happened between Riley and Santana. The one time Puck asked, Riley had said it was a onetime thing and wouldn't happen again. Santana had come out finally prior to that but the status of Riley's sexuality was still unknown.

"I don't know actually. I mean, I like guys but I can't get this girl out of my head. The moment I saw her…" Riley trailed off and stared at the floor. Rachel had to admit she didn't understand. If Riley and Santana liked each other so much, why didn't they try to make things work? Yeah people at school were jerks about stuff like this, but things had been getting better and even if they hadn't been, neither of them should have let societal pressures keep them from trying to find happiness.

The game sort of died after that. Quinn suggested putting a movie on and while Santana ticked off titles, Rachel headed into the kitchen to get some water. Riley followed her.

"Are you having fun, Riley?" Rachel asked awkwardly. Despite having been in glee all year together, they hadn't really spoken much. Riley was really a very quiet person.

"Yeah, it just sucks because you're all graduating in June. This year in glee has been awesome. I wish I had transferred to McKinley freshman year instead of junior year. I wish I could have been here when New Directions first started." Riley took the water Rachel held out for her.

Rachel couldn't help but laugh. "No you don't. We were horrible when we first started! We only had five members and we sucked and none of us really liked each other. It was not the happy family it is now."

Riley laughed without humor. "Still, I'd have liked to have spent more time with all of you, especially you Rachel. You're the heart of the club. I'd have loved to have seen all your solos at competition."

"That is true," Rachel only semi-joked; no one could deny Rachel was the life force behind the New Directions. She kind of worried sometimes how the club would fare once she was no longer there to push people forward even when they thought they didn't want to be pushed. "We should see if they've picked a movie ou-"

Before Rachel could finish her sentence and even begin to comprehend what was happening to her, she felt Riley's hand grip her arm, turn her around then kiss her hard on the mouth. She stood there absolutely stunned, not moving at all as Riley placed her hands on her face and moved her mouth against hers.

After about 30 seconds, Rachel's brain finally turned back on and she shoved Riley off her. "What the hell was that?" Rachel shouted at her.

Riley looked like she was about to vomit. She swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry, Rachel," she apologized as she began to tear up. "I'm…I don't know…"

"What is going on?" Santana said as she entered the kitchen. She looked back and forth between Riley and Rachel and the expressions on their faces told her everything she needed to know. Riley began bawling and ran from the kitchen.

"Riley!" Santana called after her. Brittany popped into the kitchen after that and Santana asked her to make sure Riley was okay. "She told you, didn't she?" Santana asked quietly.

Rachel gaped at Santana. "She kissed me. I...I...I don't understand. I thought Riley liked _you_?"

Just then Santana did something Rachel never expected her to do, she hugged her. "Riley has been conflicted all year over you. I don't really understand everyone's weird obsession with you, but apparently you're a magnet for love triangles. When she first started having these feelings for you she came to me because she had heard about my similar problem with Brittany. Though I'm not usually one to listen to the whining of others, I understood Riley's dilemma, so I was there for her when she needed to talk," Santana explained.

"I had no idea. She's never given me any reason to think she liked me." Rachel tried to think of anything that could have been an indicator.

"She didn't want to give you any reason to think she liked you. Riley knows how you feel about Finn and about your New York plan and she knows nothing will ever happen. She's not looking to come between you and either of those two things. She's more distressed about the fact that she's so strongly attracted to a woman. Riley's _never_ really felt this way about a woman."

Rachel shook her head. She was having a difficult time wrapping her mind around everything that was going on. "But she made out with you at Halloween."

Santana shrugged then leaned against the counter. "That was a convenience thing. She felt awful watching you and Finn together all night and she just couldn't take it. Kinda like how Finn agreed to have sex with me after finding out about you and St. Jackass. He only did it because he was upset over you. As for me, I'm just willing to mack on anyone when I'm drunk enough really."

Suddenly something clicked in Rachel's brain. She had a feeling Santana would know the answer. "Riley sent me a carnation for Valentine's Day didn't she? I had one anonymous red carnation that just said 'You are beautiful'."

Santana shook her head yes. "She said it was the only way she could tell you how she felt without feeling rejected. Whatever."

As Rachel absorbed and digested all this new information, she decided she needed to talk to Riley about all this. She exited the kitchen and went into the living room. "Has anyone seen Riley?"

"She and Brittany are outside. Is everything okay? We heard you yell then Riley ran outside crying," Quinn stated.

Rachel headed for the front door without answering Quinn and found Brittany hugging a crying Riley to her chest. She cleared her throat to announce her presence and Riley pulled out of Brittany's hug and turned away from both of them. Rachel felt horrible. She had unwittingly caused this girl so much heartache and confusion and she didn't feel there was anything she could do to make the situation better. Rachel knew exactly how Riley felt too, when it came to the unrequited love part anyway. She had gone through it twice with Finn; having to watch him be with someone else when all she ever wanted was to be with him and to have him want her too.

Rachel asked Brittany for a moment alone with Riley and waited until the door was shut to speak. "I'm so sorry I'm putting you through this. I truly don't mean to. Riley, I had no idea you felt the way you do about me. I can't even imagine how conflicted you must feel. Santana told me everything and I…" Rachel didn't know what to say to make things better.

Riley sniffled and wiped her eyes and nose. She turned around to face Rachel. "It's not your fault. This is my problem." She drew in a ragged breath. "I'm so sorry for kissing you Rachel. I had no right to do that. I completely understand if you hate me."

"I don't hate you Riley," Rachel said as she moved forward and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Finn might, but I don't." Rachel's attempt at humor fell flat as fear flashed through Riley's eyes. "I'm kidding Riley! I'm sure Finn will understand if he finds out. Who knows, like most guys he'd probably think it was hot or something." Rachel got a small chuckle out of Riley that time.

"Thank you for understanding. I'm not trying to mess with your relationship with Finn or with your future plans or anything. I know you'll never have romantic feelings for me. People just can't pick who they're attracted to, ya know?"

Rachel put her arm around Riley's shoulders. She now had an idea of what to say to her. "Riley, I know right now things may seem impossible, but someday you're going to get your happy ending. Believe me, there were plenty of times where I felt like true love was so out of my reach I'd never get it, but I did. It wasn't easy. I really had to fight for it sometimes, but in the end it paid off. You'll find someone who will be worth that fight and who will fight for you too. I know you will. And whether they're male or female, I know you'll be happy with them. You shouldn't worry so much about who you're attracted to. Just worry about the person you find yourself falling in love with and who will return that love."

Riley nodded in understanding. She hugged Rachel. "Thank you."

"Let's go inside. It's a bit chilly out here," Rachel said as she broke their hug and led them to the door. When they made it back inside Riley and Rachel assured everyone that everything was fine and they all sat down to watch _To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar_. No one was really sure how they had landed on that choice but they all still laughed their asses off. Wesley Snipes in drag was comedic in itself.

When the movie finished, Rachel called Finn to pick her up and said goodbye to all the girls. She made her way out to Finn's truck. "Have fun?" he asked as she hopped in the cab.

"Yeah, I did. By the way, if word gets around that Riley kissed me, don't get mad," Rachel warned.

Finn looked pissed now. "Riley kissed you? What the fuck?"

"Finn, please calm down. She's just dealing with these very difficult emotions right now and you being pissed off at her is not going to help. We talked about it and she apologized and it won't happen again. I just wanted to tell you before this could get blown out of proportion."

"Rachel, you're my girlfriend! I don't care if it's a dude or chick, they shouldn't be kissing you. I'm the only one who should be kissing you. And I thought Riley liked Santana anyway?" Finn pulled out of the driveway and headed back towards Rachel's house.

"Apparently not; Santana is more of a mentor or sorts for Riley. She was helping her deal with her feelings for me," Rachel explained as she played with the buttons on her skirt.

"I can't believe Riley has a thing for you," Finn said disbelievingly.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Is it any harder to believe than Kurt having a huge noticeable crush on you?"

Finn conceded. They got to Rachel's house and as they walked inside Rachel voiced a thought that had been present in her mind. "I'm a little surprised. A lot of guys, well, guys like Puck, would find the idea of their girlfriend and another girl making out hot."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not Puck. I don't want anyone else getting access to these," Finn said with a grin as he pulled Rachel to him and kissed her lips softly, "guy or girl. They've got an invisible 'Property of Finn Hudson' stamp on 'em."

"Oh really, they're your property?" Rachel looked at him judgingly.

"Okay, 'Finn Hudson's Got Dibs'. Is that better? I don't want to sound like I own you. I don't want to seem like that kind of guy. You're not property. But I do like being able to tell people only I get to be with you."

"Better." Rachel leaned up and kissed him. "Now, why don't we go upstairs and you can show me how _only_ you get to be with me," Rachel said with so much promise in her voice it physically pained Finn as she pulled him up the stairs.

Though Finn didn't like that Riley had kissed Rachel, he totally understood why she did. Rachel was the most beautiful person inside and out and that was one of the reasons he loved her so much. Anyone would be a fool not to see that.

* * *

><p>Five Rachel Berry gold stars to anyone who gets the double meaning behind the title of this chapter.<p> 


	14. Mama's Boy

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner, but sadly you are anonymous! Dos Equis is Mexican beer and means Two X but the double meaning I was searching for was the reference to the fact that XX are the sex chromosomes for females. Rachel's anonymous carnation was from a female and the chapter was mostly about the glee girls party. See what I did there? So as promised, anonymous winner, you get five Rachel Berry gold stars! http : / i51. tiny pic. com/ 2 whgy 86. jpg You just have to take the spaces out of the url. It wouldn't save connected.

As for this chapter, to quote Agnes from Despicable Me, "IT'S SO FLUFFY!"

* * *

><p>It was Mother's Day and Finn was in his living room watching his mother weep over the gift he had given her. At first he genuinely thought she was crying because it sucked. It wasn't fancy or sparkly like the small intertwined diamond hearts necklace Burt had given her and it wasn't even a spa gift certificate like Kurt had got for her. No, Finn's gift had been handmade and heartfelt at Rachel's suggestion.<p>

_It was five days before Mother's Day and Finn, Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes and Marie were at the Lima Bean getting coffee afterschool when Kurt mentioned the holiday._

"_So I've been thinking about my Mother's Day gift for Carole. She's been so stressed over work lately I thought a ladies spa day would be just the relaxing thing she could use. What were you going to get her Finn?" Kurt asked as he sipped on his drink._

_Finn stared wide eyed at his brother. "Mother's Day is coming up?"_

_Kurt looked at him blankly. "Yes Finn. It's this upcoming Sunday. Carole has only been hinting at it all week. Have you really not been paying any attention?" Kurt asked but Finn wasn't paying attention. Finn was wracking his brain trying to think of something to get his mother. He was coming up with nothing. "Finn?"_

"_I have no idea what to get her. I can't even remember what I got her last year. I'm a horrible son."_

_Rachel rubbed Finn's back. "You're not a horrible son. You're just panicking. We just need to think of her likes and interests," Rachel tried comforting her boyfriend._

"_You could always get her some flowers and some jewelry or something?" Marie suggested as a question. Finn shook his head._

"_That could work," he replied thinking about whether to get her a necklace or bracelet._

_Rachel disagreed however. "That's so generic though. Most mothers will probably be getting jewelry. You need something that really comes from the heart and truly expresses how much you love your mom and how much everything she has done and continues to do for you means to you. Finn, you should make something for her."_

"_Oh definitely! I make my mom something every year. This year, I went to Color Me Mine and made a vase for the flowers I'm going to get her. My mom loves homemade gifts from me and my brother, even though sometimes they suck," Mercedes supplied._

_Finn looked contemplative. "You think I should make her a birdhouse or something?" He looked from Mercedes to Rachel._

"_Well, while I'm sure she would love it if you made a birdhouse for her I was thinking something a little more personal. I mean, she can't really use a birdhouse. Those are for birds. I was thinking maybe a photo scrapbook. I noticed boxes full of photos just sitting in your basement when we were helping Burt move stuff around down there last week. Maybe you could sift through those and pick out some happy memories to put on display for her." Rachel smiled as Finn smiled at her. He kissed her hard on the mouth and hugged her in appreciation._

"_You are a genius." Finn turned to the rest of the table. "Seriously, my girlfriend is a genius. I gotta go." He stood up nearly knocking the table over in his excitement._

"_Where are you going?" Rachel called after him as he walked away._

_Finn turned around and walked back toward the table. "Do you know where I could get stuff to make this?" Rachel stood up and grabbed her bag._

"_Come on, I'll help you. We can stop at Jo-Ann Fabric before we look through the pictures." Rachel said goodbye to the table and grabbed Finn's outstretched hand._

Over the next five days, Finn, with as little help from Rachel as possible, worked on the scrapbook for his mother. Once Rachel put the idea in his head, he couldn't get it out. When he looked through all the pictures he picked out ones that he felt would have the most meaning to his mom. This scrapbook was going to be all about her life and the happy moments in it. There had been so many sad and hard times he just wanted to remind her of all the good ones.

That was why when she began crying after opening it and looking through it Finn felt like he had failed. But then Carole looked at him and smiled; those weren't sad tears, they were happy tears. She liked his gift.

"Finn, this is the best gift anyone has ever given me. No offense Burt, Kurt. Your gifts were lovely too," Carole said as she gripped their hands. Burt and Kurt were both so proud of Finn that they didn't really mind that neither of their gifts had made Carole so happy she cried.

"You really like it?" Finn asked, skeptical still. Carole stood up from the couch and moved to hug Finn on the chair. Finn stood up and met her.

Carole looked up at her baby boy who really wasn't her baby boy anymore. He was a man now and he was going to be leaving her soon. As much as she liked Rachel and would be proud to call her daughter-in-law someday if she and Finn lasted, she couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy. For so long Carole had been the only and most important woman in Finn's life, but now she had to share that spot with someone else. That was part of why Carole was so emotional over her gift. Finn had put so much thought into it to show her how much she still meant to him; that no matter what, she'd always be important.

Finn kissed his mom on the cheek and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Mom. Happy Mother's Day." It had been a very long time since Finn was Carole's 'little' boy but in that moment as he hugged her, he couldn't help but feel that way. Memories of her hugging him when he was sad or happy or just needed some human contact flooded his brain and he smiled.

Kurt and Burt stood off to the side watching the exchange and when Finn noticed Kurt getting all emotional he pulled him into the hug and Burt joined as well. Carole cried even harder happy tears as the three most important men in her life assaulted her with love. The group hug ended and everyone was slightly emotional and tearing up.

Carole sat on the couch again and Kurt and Burt went into the kitchen to work on Mother's Day brunch when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Finn said; he had a feeling he knew who it was.

"Hey Rachel!" he said brightly when he opened the door. Rachel walked into the house and kissed Finn hello.

"Did you give her your gift yet?" she asked impatiently.

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago. It made her cry," Finn said a little proudly. They walked into the living room.

Carole looked up from her scrapbook. "Oh, hello Rachel. I wasn't expecting you."

"I'm sorry to drop by without invitation. I won't be staying though; I don't want to intrude on your day with your boys. I just had a little something I wanted to drop off for you." Rachel handed a medium sized box to Carole.

"Oh sweetie, you didn't need to get me anything," Carole said, reluctantly taking the box from Rachel.

"Yes, I did. As you know, I have two gay dads. I've never known what it's like to have a mom to go to when I needed womanly advice or just someone to talk to. My experience with my own mother was rather disappointing, but you have always treated me like a daughter and made me feel welcome and I really appreciate that. And you've raised a great son and I love you for that too," Rachel explained. She looked at Finn and he smiled lopsidedly at her.

Carole's heart swelled at Rachel's words as she tore open the flowery wrapping paper. "Oh, a webcam!" Carole exclaimed. She was kind of confused. Carole wasn't one for internet chatting.

"I know it's kind of an odd gift for Mother's Day but I thought it would come in handy with Finn moving to New York. Once it's set up and you learn how to use it, you can see Finn whenever you want then. Maybe you two could plan weekly Skype chats or something," Rachel said looking between Finn and Carole. She thought her gift had been a great idea to keep mother and son connected.

Carole stood up and hugged Rachel tightly. "Thank you. That was so thoughtful of you. I love it."

"You're so welcome, Carole. Well, I should probably go. I'm sure I've infringed upon your family time enough for today," Rachel said as she pulled out of the hug.

"Don't be silly Rachel. If you aren't busy today you are more than welcome to spend the day here. You're just as much a part of this family now as Finn or Kurt is. You're the daughter I never had." Rachel started tearing up at Carole's words. "Did you see the scrapbook Finn made me?" Carole asked as she moved back over to the couch.

Rachel and Finn followed her and sat on either side of Carole. "I've seen a few pages that I helped Finn with but otherwise he was insistent upon doing it himself and keeping the finished product a secret."

Carole flipped open the scrapbook and the first page had some older photos of Carole with her parents as a kid. She and her father were playing in the backyard in one and in another she and her mom were baking a cake. The next page had a few more snapshots of her childhood and one full page was dedicated to her senior prom and graduation pictures. "My first boyfriend, Andrew; he was the nicest guy. If he hadn't of moved to California for college, we probably would have lasted much longer than just junior and senior year of high school. But then I wouldn't have met your father," Carole said as she looked over at Finn.

The next few pages showed Carole as a young adult with friends and the early days of her relationship with Finn's dad. The page after that had Carole and Christopher's wedding photos on it. "I like that one," Rachel said with laughter in her voice. It was a picture of Carole and Christopher shoving cake in each other's faces and laughing. They looked so happy.

After that came pictures of Carole and Finn. There was one of her holding a little newborn baby Finn in the hospital. She looked exhausted but happy but also somewhat sad. Finn's dad wasn't in the photo. Carole looked at Rachel. "Christopher had been called up before Finn was born. He didn't even get to see him until he was over a year old when he was on leave."

There were pictures of a surprisingly blonde baby Finn. Rachel thought he had the most adorable chubby cheeks and there was one photo in particular of him wandering down the hallway naked carrying a teddy bear that Rachel found absolutely precious. "Aw, baby got back!" Rachel squealed jokingly as she pointed the picture out.

"Didn't he just have the cutest little tush?" Carole exclaimed. "Finn hated wearing diapers around the house. He'd always pull them off and wander around naked." Finn's face felt very hot. He wondered to himself why he had chosen to include that particular picture.

Feeling uncomfortable having his mother and girlfriend discussing his butt in front of him, even if it was just his butt as a baby, Finn flipped to the next page. "Okay, moving on," Finn said quickly. Carole rolled her eyes at her son. The next page had a copy of the only picture of Finn and his dad together.

"You look so much like your dad, Finn," Rachel commented. "You're both very handsome."

"Christopher was very handsome. This picture doesn't even do him justice. Plus he was a charmer and the things he did to me…" Carole trailed off, realizing she was heading into creepy mom territory. Finn knew where babies came from and she had told him about being conceived on a pinball machine but he didn't need more detail than that.

The next few pages were of Carole and Finn over his childhood years. "Oh look, there I am!" Rachel said pointing herself out in their Class of 2008 middle school graduation photo. There were two middle schools in the district and Finn and Rachel had gone to the same one without Finn even realizing it.

"That's you?" Finn said in awe. How had Finn not even noticed her in the picture? He'd had to have looked at it a few dozen times at least. "You look so different now."

"My middle school years were very awkward. That's probably why you never noticed me. I was even shorter than I am now and had braces and an unfortunate haircut. You were Mr. Popular and I was the little freak, just like high school only middle school version. If you can believe it though I was actually taller than you until you had your growth spurt in 7th grade."

Finn had always been at extremes when it came to his height. Before he was so big he sometimes had to duck to enter rooms he had been the smallest guy in their class. When he tried out for the middle school football team in 6th grade the coaches were actually worried that he'd get crushed because he was so small. By 8th grade they were worried that he would be doing the crushing so they deemed he was too big to play for the middle school and suggested he try out for the JV team at the high school instead. He was second string JV quarterback in 8th grade then first string for JV freshman year then was moved to Varsity sophomore year.

"I can actually see that. It sucked being short enough to see up people's noses when I had to talk to them," Finn reminisced. Rachel was not amused.

"At least you grew. I'm still stuck down under the clouds."

Carole laughed and flipped the page again. These were pictures of Finn in high school. There were some of him that Carole had taken at his football games and a copy of the first glee club picture they had taken and other pictures from their performances. The next page was all Burt and Carole. Three whole pages were dedicated to their wedding as Kurt had insisted on photographing everything. Finn was glad he had insisted though. There were so many good pictures he had a hard time choosing which ones to include.

When he had gone through the wedding photos he had found one of him and Rachel dancing that made his heart ache in a good way. They both looked so happy and peaceful in the picture. Rachel's head rested on Finn's chest and his cheek was on her head, both of them wearing content little smiles. Their hands were clasped together over Finn's heart. As he stared at the picture he hoped that someday they could be photographed like that again at their own wedding. Then he found an empty frame in the box of photos and put the picture in it. It now sat on his bed side table, the first thing he saw when he woke up and last before he fell asleep.

The last few pages contained a few photos from over the past year and after that were some blank pages so Carole could add to it if she wished. Rachel was very impressed with how much effort Finn had put into the scrapbook. "Finn, this scrapbook is lovely."

"Thanks. I put blood, sweat and tears into it, literally. The scissors slipped a little when I was cutting a shape out and I nicked my thumb. It hurt a lot."

"Well, I appreciate all your pain Finn." Carole laughed and Kurt entered the living room.

"Hello Rachel, I thought I heard your voice. I set a place for you. Brunch is ready." Kurt waved everyone toward the dining room.

As they ate their brunch Finn thought about how important his mom was to him. He was going to miss her so much when he moved but he knew she was so proud of him for being accepted to college in New York City. Finn was going off to make something of himself and he couldn't think of a better way to prove that all her sacrifice had been worth it.


	15. Sex Almost On The Beach

A few things about this and the next few chapters. First, the locations are all real places. Having said that, I'm putting a disclaimer out there: **_I do not own anything._** All of this is just for fun. This is kind of like a little shout out to the town I used to live it. I thought it would be the perfect place for Finchel and Klaine to have a nice little vacation. Second, I'm pretty sure this is the most scandalous thing I've written for this. I just hope Cory and Lea never find this story. Lastly, enjoy!

* * *

><p>It was the Friday before Memorial Day and Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Blaine were going on their first ever adult free trip out of state. They were headed to New York, only not New York City. No, the foursome was heading to a little Podunk town that none of them but Blaine had ever heard of: Angola, NY.<p>

Blaine had come up with the plan. His aunt and uncle owned a little cottage in Angola on the Lake along Lake Erie and they were allowing him to use it for the weekend if his parents gave their permission. It had taken some persuasion but he finally got his yes and immediately asked Kurt to join. The only problem was the only way Kurt was allowed to go was to have Finn go with him. Burt didn't feel entirely comfortable with Kurt going to some cottage in the woods alone with Blaine just yet. They were still only in high school. He liked Blaine, but he still didn't like the idea.

Fortunately, Blaine didn't mind Finn tagging along and even told him to invite Rachel. They could make it a romantic couples' weekend on the lake. At first Rachel's dads protested the idea much like Burt had, they didn't want her and Finn going to some cottage alone together either, but Rachel had insisted that due to Kurt and Blaine's presence her fathers had nothing to worry about. Rachel told them she would never engage in something as unsavory as fornicating in the presence of Kurt and Blaine, even if they'd be in separate rooms. She had a feeling her dads could see right through her but they gave her permission to go nonetheless.

After school that Friday, they packed up Kurt's SUV with everything they'd need for a long weekend at the beach and headed out. The drive would take about six hours and Blaine and Finn would take turns driving while Rachel and Kurt planned their itinerary for the two and half days they would be there.

"We should definitely do Niagara Falls tomorrow so that way we can just rest on Sunday and Monday before heading back Monday afternoon. We can do the Maid of the Mist in the morning and go to the Hard Rock Café for lunch and there's an attraction area called Clifton Hill. It looks like there's a lot to do there," Rachel said from the backseat looking at the information she had printed off about things to do in the Canada/Western New York area. As far as Angola itself went, it appeared that the town had even less than Lima. The closest interesting things to do Rachel could find were in Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

"Everyone remembered their passports right?" Kurt asked seemingly announcing it to the whole car but he was mostly concerned about Finn having remembered his. Rachel and Blaine pulled theirs out to show Kurt. "Finn?"

As Finn was taking the first shift driving, his hands were kind of busy. "It's in my backpack in the front pocket. You can pull it out and see for yourself if you want." Kurt grabbed his bag to check. He did have it.

"Rachel, you have your dads' permission slip, right?" Everyone else had already turned 18; Rachel was the only hold up.

"Yes Kurt. It's with my passport," she replied exasperatedly. He had asked the same two questions all day long.

Blaine turned in the front seat to look back at Kurt and Rachel. "I'm surprised all of you already had passports. Were you all planning to leave the country sometime soon?"

Kurt answered first. "Our parents are in the middle of planning a family vacation to the Bahamas so they thought it best to get everyone passports sooner rather than later. They came in only a few days ago."

"My dads just like to be prepared. I've had a passport practically since I was born," Rachel explained. "With the way they like to travel, you never know where you'll end up."

The talk then turned to how excited they all were to leave the country for the first time. The only place any of them, besides Blaine, had ever been was New York City. Now they were going international! True Canada was very similar to the US in many ways, but it was still foreign. Finn wondered if all the Canadians would say 'eh' at the end of every sentence and call each other 'hoser' like those guys Bob and Doug McKenzie he had seen in some movie one night. As far as Finn could remember, he'd never met any Canadians in Lima before.

After the excitement of road tripping died down and the monotony of the drive set in, Rachel suggested playing some word games to pass the time. They played a name game in which each person had to make it through the alphabet coming up with a boy's name for each letter and then played it with girl's names. Then they played another variation where you pick a category such as fruit or movies and you have to come up with a word in that category that begins with A, B, C, etc… While Kurt thought they were stupid ideas upon her suggestion, he had to admit it was kind of fun. Some of the answers they came up with for some of the categories made them laugh so hard they were crying.

As they made it just past Cleveland, they stopped at a rest area to use the bathroom and Blaine took over driving. He was the one who knew the town so it made sense for him to drive the second half of the way. Once they got back on the road, Finn and Kurt fell asleep. Rachel was determined to stay awake however. She didn't want Blaine to have to drive without someone to keep him company. "Where exactly is your aunt and uncle's cottage?" she asked.

Blaine looked at Rachel in the rearview mirror. "It's on Lake Shore Road right along the lake. It has its own private beach that's how close to the lake it is."

Rachel was excited. She liked the idea of a private beach even if it was on the less than desirable Lake Erie. "Why Angola though? Based on my research on the town, there isn't much there. It's barely a blip on the map."

"My uncle is originally from the area. He's always liked that it's so small and quiet so he and my aunt bought a summer home there to escape the bustling metropolis that is Cleveland," Blaine chortled lightly.

A little under three hours later Rachel saw a sign stating that Angola was only 10 miles away. She couldn't believe they were almost there. Though it was pretty dark out being that it was nearly 10 pm, Rachel stared out the window. There was literally nothing around except grass and the occasional house. As they got closer and closer to their destination, Rachel noticed they passed by a small go-kart track and driving range, more grass and houses, an ice cream place called Tubby's, a few bars, a Maria's Pizza, a Rite Aid, Walgreens and a grocery store called Jubilee before turning onto Lake Street. After turning Rachel realized that had been the major street for the area. The road they were on now was all houses.

When they turned onto Lake Shore Road, Rachel could hear the roar of the waves. Blaine really wasn't kidding when he said they were right on the lake. Finally they pulled into a driveway of a rather large house. "I thought you said it was a cottage?" Rachel asked looking at the monstrosity before her.

"I said it was a summer home. Everyone else just kept calling it a cottage."

As the car came to a full stop and Blaine shut off the engine, Finn and Kurt came to. Finn rubbed his eyes and upon noticing the size of the house, they widened. "Whoa. I thought your aunt and uncle owned a little cottage?" Finn asked as he opened his door and exited the vehicle. The rest got out too.

"I never said it was a cottage. I called it a summer home." Blaine went to the back of the SUV and popped the hatch. They all grabbed their bags and headed toward the door. Blaine opened the door to the pitch black house and flicked the light of the enclosed porch on. They all piled in and he closed the door.

From there they all walked into the spacious kitchen then fanned out. The place didn't look quite as big on the inside but it was still pretty huge. "Blaine, this place could fit my old house inside it," Finn voiced as he circled around to take in the dining room and living room. The back wall of the house was all windows that showed off the back porch and beyond that was the lake. It was too dark to actually see the waves but they could all hear them crashing on the shore.

Opposite the back wall of windows was a huge entertainment center. Finn thought Burt had a big TV but this thing made his look like an iPod. There was a dvr and blu-ray player to accompany it and a huge stereo. Behind that was the staircase and next to the bottom of the stairs was the entrance to what looked like an in-home gym.

The four of them went upstairs and were just as shocked at how big that was. There was a master bedroom that could have fit three of Finn's old room in it, a second medium sized bedroom which was about the size of his current room and a third smaller bedroom which was the size of his old room. As for the bathroom, it was practically a day spa. There were two sinks labeled with signs saying 'His' and 'Hers', a separate standing shower and a huge Jacuzzi bathtub that took up one full wall of the room.

"Blaine and I call dibs on the master!" Kurt shouted rushing into the master bedroom before Finn or Rachel could try to take it. Finn didn't really have a problem with that. It was Blaine's aunt and uncle's house. He deserved to get the big room. Rachel pouted a little but she didn't mind. The medium sized room had a pink theme so she would feel right at home there.

The couples said goodnight to each other and headed to their respective rooms. As Finn was getting undressed, he noticed that his stomach was grumbling. "I'm gonna go downstairs and see if there's any food. Do you want anything if I can find stuff?"

"No thanks, I ate a sandwich I brought with me earlier," Rachel replied. Finn nodded and headed downstairs.

He walked into the kitchen and went right for the fridge. When he opened it however he was disappointed. There was nothing in there. They'd have to find a grocery store somewhere in this town and get some food. He started checking the cabinets but all he was finding was china and glass wear. He had a feeling ceramic plates would not make a very good meal. Finally he made it to the large door in the middle of the side wall. He opened it and it was like finding the holy grail of food.

The pantry was so full that cans and boxes were even stacked on the floor. He grabbed stuff to make peanut butter and jelly and some chips and pickles from the small room and quickly made two sandwiches. He had eaten one already by the time he made it back to his room. It would be the only one he would eat that night however because as soon as he re-entered his room for the next three nights, he found Rachel lying quite naked in a very seductive manner under the bright pink sheets of the bed.

"We're not quite on the beach but I figure there's too much sand out there anyway," Rachel said playfully. Finn placed his plate on the dresser and shut the door. Rachel sat up and went onto her knees as the sheet fell off her revealing her entirely nude body. Finn's breath hitched. No matter how many times he saw his girlfriend naked, each time still made his heart race.

Rachel shuffled on her knees to the edge of the bed and as Finn moved closer, she reached her arms out and pulled him by his shirt toward her. "Come on, Finn. Let's have some sex almost on the beach."

"Okay," Finn said mesmerized by Rachel's touch. She pulled his boxers down as he took his shirt off then pulled his lips to hers. She sucked on his bottom lip then pulled it between her teeth. Rachel ran her hands down his chest then gripped him to get him going. Just before Rachel could really take charge though, an errant thought crossed Finn's mind.

"You still have to make it up to me for ditching me for Santana you know," Finn said in a low voice.

"I thought I did when we got home?" Rachel replied biting her lip and raising her eyebrow in a suggestive manner.

Finn shook his head with a sly grin on his face. "Oh no, you taking control and being on top is not making it up to me. _I_ want to be in charge," Finn growled as he picked Rachel up without warning and laid her out on the bed, covering her with his own body. She giggled and ran her hands through his short hair as he laced her neck with kisses only stopping to suck on her pulse point. Rachel had a feeling she would have a giant hickey there in the morning.

"Flip over," Finn said roughly, nuzzling his nose against Rachel's jaw.

Rachel just blinked. "What?" she asked, slight panic in her voice.

"I said, flip over." Finn pulled away from Rachel completely. He could see the nervousness on her face. "You owe me."

"Finn, you know I don't care for that position," Rachel stated, propping herself up on her elbows.

He threw his head back and sighed. "Just one time, that's all I'm asking. I've never pushed you before and don't get me wrong, I love when you're on top, but sometimes I want to be in control." Finn was practically begging her.

"You're on top all time!"

"Yeah, but in missionary. You're the one who always wants to try new stuff. When I want to though, you shut me down. Please Rach, just once. I swear, I will never ask again."

He looked at her pleadingly. Rachel did have to admit that she owed him. He was always so accommodating when she wanted to try new things. The only time he had ever really complained had been during his striptease but even then he still did it. "Okay," Rachel surrendered. Finn's face lit up and Rachel couldn't help but smile. It really didn't take much to make him happy.

Before she flipped over though and wouldn't be able to see Finn anymore, she pulled him back down to her and kissed him. He pulled away and looked at her expectantly. She groaned and rolled her eyes but flipped over.

Despite the Mardi Gras incident, once Rachel felt satisfied that her birth control had been in her system long enough and her periods became like clockwork, she had stopped worrying quite so much and decided to forgo using condoms. She used the Ortho-Evra patch which had one of the best pregnancy prevention rates of any birth control with one or less out of 100 women getting pregnant while using it and she had to admit that she was quite excited to finally really feel Finn. They hadn't had sex since she had come to this decision.

"Do you know where the condoms went? I can't find them," Finn said as he sifted through his backpack on the dresser.

Rachel smiled as she turned her head to look at Finn. "We don't need them."

Finn stopped what he was doing. "But I thought...with that one time…"

She went onto her back again to better see Finn. "I've been using the patch for long enough now that I think we'll be fine without one. It has a higher success rate than condoms anyway. Besides, I'd really like to feel _you_ and not just the condom. I've thought about this a lot so you don't need to worry about this being a rash decision."

He went back onto the bed and kissed Rachel lustfully. The idea of sex without a condom in an entirely new and titillating position had Finn's blood racing and racing fast right to his now very pronounced erection. Rachel pushed him away so she could go onto her stomach again. She went up onto all fours and before she could scoot back to the edge of the bed herself, Finn gripped her hips hard and pulled her back. Though his fingers digging into her kind of hurt, Rachel couldn't help but feel turned on. He didn't come out very often but, forceful Finn was a fun Finn.

Before entering her, Finn ran a finger along her slit. She was sopping wet already and he'd hardly touched her. A smug grin crossed his features at knowing he could do that to her. He teased her clit between his thumb and finger and let her whine in pleasure for a moment while his tip taunted her entrance. Then without further preamble he slowly entered her. She let out a low moan and her back arched.

Finn gripped her hips and pushed her forward until he was almost completely out of her then slammed her back down onto his hips. She let out a loud cry. Then it was like a primal animal instinct had taken over in Finn and he went to town. He thrust in and out of Rachel with a vigor she had never seen him possess and she had to admit it was beyond hot. Something in him made him move his hands to her thighs and he pushed them together until her knees were touching and his legs were spread on either side of hers. The slight movement made for a big impact because Rachel felt so much tighter around Finn now which made him feel quite a bit bigger inside her. He grunted in pleasure and the bed squeaked as he continued his evenly paced thrusts.

He was going to lose it soon but like always he wanted Rachel to come first. Finn always felt more satisfied after if he could make her moan before he did. He really wanted to touch her but at the angle he was at it was proving somewhat difficult. Finn pulled completely out of Rachel and she collapsed onto the bed. She hadn't climaxed yet but she was already exhausted. Finn crawled onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist pulling her up, her back against his chest. He turned toward the headboard of the bed so Rachel could have something to hold onto if necessary and leaned back on his heels.

Rachel sat in his lap, knees bent between his, with his still very hard and throbbing erection pressed against her lower back. She ground against him causing a loud moan to escape his open mouth. Finn lifted her by her hips and guided her onto him once more. Rachel sank down onto him and pressed her rear tightly against Finn's groin. She began rotating her hips, Finn falling into rhythm with her and she moaned every time Finn brushed her g-spot.

Finn moved his hands from Rachel's hips and cupped her breasts. He played with her perky nipples and Rachel fell forward placing her hands flat against the headboard for support. Her head fell forward, chin against chest as she rocked her hips back and forth. Finn moved his right hand from her breast down her smooth stomach all the way to her center. He spread his two middle fingers and placed them right where his penis met Rachel's opening. Gently he tickled her super sensitive nub with his thumb. As he did this, Rachel slammed the headboard into the wall and let out a very loud cross between a scream and a moan.

"Oh GOD! FIIIIIINN!" she moaned out loud and long as Finn hit her spot again and her body convulsed. Finn could feel a gush of wetness around him and her body clenched and unclenched violently. Rachel's eyes rolled into the back of her head, eyelids fluttering, and mouth open wide as the best sensation she ever felt washed over her.

Now Finn could let go. Finn didn't think his penis had ever been harder as he felt the buildup of semen finally start to make its way out. Only before he could explode Rachel slumped forward off his body leaving his penis exposed. Beyond that point of no return, Finn released all over Rachel's lower back with a very loud moan of his own. Though he totally did not mean to do that, he had to admit it had been super hot to watch.

Once his own orgasm finished he slumped forward himself onto Rachel's back. He could feel the sticky white liquid on his skin but he didn't really care at the moment. Caressingly, Finn moved his hand from between Rachel's legs and wrapped his arms around her middle. Lightly he kissed her back a few times then pressed his cheek against her clammy skin. Finn pulled them both back so they were sitting up then helped Rachel lie down. She was so drained she could hardly move. Finn pulled the sheet over her then got up to turn the light off.

"Are you two finished for the night? Blaine and I would like to get some sleep!" Kurt's muffled voice sounded through the wall the headboard was against. Finn blushed and Rachel bit her lip guiltily.

Finn moved closer to the wall. "Yeah, we're done," he yelled back.

"Hallelujah!" Finn heard Kurt shout back. He laughed as he climbed into bed next to Rachel. He stared at her lovingly then placed little tender kisses all over her face. Rachel scooched closer to Finn and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I must say, that was just a tad bit more pleasurable than I thought it would be," Rachel said quietly.

"Just a tad?" Finn raised his eyebrow and one corner of his mouth.

Rachel sighed. "Let's put it this way, you can be controlling in any position you want from now on. I trust you to make it just as enjoyable for me as for you." The room went silent for a minute. "We're going to have to change these sheets tomorrow." Rachel touched her back where Finn had come all over her. She was sure it had gotten all over the sheet when Finn laid her down.

"We should probably just keep these ones on then burn them before we leave because I plan on getting them dirty a few more times before Monday night and I don't think Blaine's aunt and uncle will want them anymore." Finn licked his lips quickly.

"Sounds unsanitary, but then again, I like being a dirty girl." Rachel nipped at Finn's lower lip and leaned even further into him. She pulled her lips from Finn's and rested her forehead against his. "We should get some sleep if we want to make it to Niagara Falls at a decent hour tomorrow."

Finn lightly kissed Rachel. "Okay. I love you, Rachel."

"I love you, Finn. Goodnight." Rachel turned in Finn's arms so her back was to him. He pulled her tightly against his chest and kissed her shoulder before getting his head comfortably on the pillow. As Finn drifted off to sleep he thought that if the rest of the weekend went anything like that night had, he might consider getting him and Rachel a summer home along the lake. Clearly this small town wasn't quite as boring as it seemed.

* * *

><p>Anyone else need a cold shower now?<p>

And who's excited for Niagara Falls?


	16. O Canada

Once again I'd just like to thank everyone for reviewing, favoriting, story alerting, etc... It's like crack to me. Now onto Saturday!

* * *

><p>It was the Saturday before Memorial Day and Rachel was singing in the shower whilst getting ready for their day in Niagara Falls. She had been the first to wake up surprisingly and immediately hit the shower. The previous night's activities with Finn had left her feeling rather dirty, in more ways than one. She was in the middle of singing Lady Marmalade when the shower door opened and she screamed in surprised.<p>

"Finn! You scared the crap out of me!" she said gripping her chest, trying to steady her heartbeat as he entered the shower and closed the door behind him.

"The answer is sí," Finn said as he pushed Rachel against the wall.

Rachel was confused. "What?"

Finn eyes smoldered as he leaned down to press his lips to Rachel's. "The song; it's about sex or whatever, right?"

"It's French, Finn. The answer would be oui," Rachel replied matter-of-factly.

"Oui, sí, yes, whatever, point is, I want to have sex with you. Right now." Finn said aggressively as he lifted Rachel and wrapped her legs around him. She squealed in delight. Apparently Finn was taking what Rachel had said about being controlling in any position to heart.

Unfortunately, just before Finn could get inside Rachel the bathroom door opened and Kurt walked in. "We don't have time for a shower romp, Finn!" Kurt yelled at the naked couple through the textured glass shower door. "I know that's exactly what you came in here to do. So please, just take a normal shower so we can get out of here in a timely manner. Blaine and I still need to get in here." He huffed a little before exiting the bathroom again.

"Fucking cock block," Finn muttered under his breath. Rachel snorted a little then lowered herself back down.

"He's got a point Finn. There's always the Jacuzzi tub later. Right now though, you need to take care of that," Rachel said glancing down with a smirk at Finn's very noticeable erection.

Finn turned the cold water nozzle up higher. "That's what I was trying to do until we got interrupted." Rachel laughed before she rinsed her conditioner out.

"I hope your shower's cold enough!" Rachel said as she opened the door and left Finn standing there alone. He poked his head out to watch her dry off. Finn turned the cold water down again. He had another idea for relieving his raging boner.

A little over an hour later everyone was ready to leave finally. They piled into Kurt's SUV and headed in the direction of the Great White North. Along the way they stopped at a Tim Horton's on Route 5 for breakfast and the girl working the drive through window was flirting shamelessly with Finn in the driver's seat much to Rachel's irritation. Finn didn't seem to notice her hitting on him however as he only had eyes for the food being passed between windows.

Once they got under way again they chatted fervently about what they would do all day. Finn wasn't really paying attention as he was trying to keep them from getting lost and ending up going the wrong way. That was until he heard 'dinosaur mini-golf'.

"We have to do that! Mini-golf and dinosaurs? That's a winning combination right there!" Finn exclaimed excitedly. Rachel could see his face light up like a child's at the thought in the rearview mirror.

The rest of the drive consisted of the foursome singing along to the radio, especially when Don't Stop Believin' came on. They got some weird looks from the cars next to them but none of them really cared. It was their signature song and they were going to belt it out as loud as possible.

Finally they were at the Rainbow Bridge. As Finn drove across the bridge they turned their attention toward the falls. They had never seen such a beautiful and powerful natural wonder. Nothing in Ohio could compare. Then they made it to the customs people. Finn had been expecting a hard time from them but they were very friendly and even cracked a few jokes. To Finn's great amusement the guy asking him questions even said 'eh' at the end of telling him to have a good day. It was official, they were now international travelers and their first stop was the Maid of the Mist. They had arrived just in time to get on the next boat.

"How close will we be getting exactly? Do you know how long it took me to get my hair to look this good this morning? It cannot get wet!" Kurt fussed noticing all the moisture around them.

Everyone rolled their eyes at him. "I'm sure your hair will be fine Kurt," Blaine assured him.

"This is not fine!" Kurt hollered over the roar of the falls as he fought to keep his poncho hood up to protect his hair which was falling flatter and flatter as it got wetter and wetter ten minutes later. The four of them stood along the railing of the boat, getting sprayed with the mist as they got closer to the falls.

"Kurt, stop complaining! This is amazing and all you're doing is whining about your hair!" Rachel yelled back. He glared at her before walking toward the center of the boat to escape the direct assault of mist, Blaine following.

Rachel looked toward the Horseshoe Falls and couldn't believe how massive the cataract was. It was much more impressive in person than in the pictures she had seen. "Can you believe how huge it is?" she yelled at Finn.

"I know. It looked a lot smaller in those pictures you showed me."

Rachel smiled at him. "Thanks for inviting me to come with. This is so much fun," she said before leaning up to kiss his wet face.

A little over 20 minutes later they were all back on dry land and Kurt was still complaining. "I need to get to a mirror stat. What am I supposed to do with this mess?" He ran his fingers through his soaking wet hair which hung in his eyes.

"I think the bangs down actually look pretty hot," Blaine supplied. Kurt blushed slightly before finally just swiping a comb through his wet locks and leaving them to dry down.

"Hard Rock?" Finn asked the rest. He was starving and more than ready to hit up the world famous restaurant. He'd only ever been to the one in Cleveland and that was only once.

The place was packed but surprisingly they were seated within only ten minutes of arriving. They all looked around at the different bits of music memorabilia and Finn took some pictures on his phone. He really liked the drumstick and guitar pick collection.

After they finished eating they headed over to Clifton Hill and walked around just taking everything in. When they saw the Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf sign, Finn went bananas. He rushed to the entrance and dug out his wallet. He had already paid for everyone, had his putter and ball and waited impatiently at the first hole before everyone else had even walked in.

Rachel had never seen him so excited for anything, well, except maybe sex…and food. He took the first turn at the first hole and to everyone's astonishment got a hole-in-one.

"Wow, that was lucky," Rachel commented as she went to take her turn.

"Luck's got nothing to do with it, babe. I'm just awesome at mini-golf," Finn said proudly.

They made it through in about an hour and a half. It probably would have taken less time if Finn hadn't of insisted on posing for pictures with every dinosaur they found. While Rachel, Kurt and Blaine had been over par on nearly every hole, Finn was in the negatives and by a pretty large amount. He hadn't been joking about being awesome at mini-golf. After that they headed back down the hill to get to the Great Canadian Midway but on the way there, Rachel spotted the bowling alley.

"Oh my gosh, Finn we should go bowling! I haven't gone since that first time we went." She jumped up and down, hands clasped under her chin.

"You guys wanna go bowling?" he asked Kurt and Blaine.

"I love bowling!" Blaine exclaimed. "Let's do it."

They headed into the alley and Blaine took care of it since Finn paid for the mini-golf. They all put on the goofy clown bowling shoes, Blaine commenting that they actually looked pretty cool with his outfit, and searched for a ball. "Here ya go, Rach," Finn said pulling a bright pink bowling ball out of the rack for her. She smiled. "Just like last time and it's light enough for you." Under the team names on the screen they put in Finchel and Klaine and started to bowl.

They played three games and Rachel bowled a total of four strikes, each one earning her a big kiss from Finn. She got just as excited each time she got one as she had the first time her and Finn went bowling. During all three games Blaine and Finn had a little competition going on as to who could get the most strikes, the loser of which would have to do whatever task the winner came up with. Blaine wiped the floor with Finn and did a little dance on the chairs upon his victory.

After that they played arcade games and rode the rides at the Midway for a few hours. Finn had spent nearly the entire time there trying to earn enough tickets to get the giant stuffed bear for Rachel but unfortunately he was only able to get about a third of what he needed. She thought her smaller stuffed puppy and microphone keychain were more than enough from Finn however.

As twilight set in the small group headed to the SkyWheel. From the giant Ferris wheel they'd be able to get a great view of the lights on the falls and see the surrounding area. When they made it to the top, they all took a bunch of pictures to commemorate their trip to Niagara Falls. Once they made it off the wheel, they headed to where they had parked the car to go back to Angola. The day had been so much fun but they were all getting tired.

As they finally got back into the US after the customs lady practically interrogated them, Finn spoke. "I can't believe only one Canadian person said 'eh' all day."

"You would be disappointed by that," Kurt replied. "I can't believe how friendly everyone was. I mean, Finn, when you bumped into that guy and caused him to spill his drink on the floor at lunch, he apologized!"

An hour later Finn pulled into the driveway of Blaine's aunt and uncle's house. They headed into the house and Blaine went right for the back porch. "Where are you going?" Kurt asked following him.

Blaine exited the enclosed porch and walked onto the open back patio. "There's a hot tub out here. I was thinking of going in for a bit. I just wanted to make sure it was clean."

"Why am I just now finding out about this hot tub? This is information you should have told me before we got here!" Kurt clapped in excitement when Blaine uncovered the hot tub and found that it was in working condition and ready for use. "I'm going to get my bathing suit on!" Kurt squealed.

"What's going on?" Rachel said from her place on the couch as Kurt walked past to go upstairs.

"There's a hot tub out back! I'm going in it!" He rushed up the stairs. Rachel turned to Finn, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.

"Come on, Finn! Let's get changed!" She pulled him off the couch and upstairs. Three minutes later they were all out back. Finn stood hesitantly outside the little steaming pool of water.

Kurt looked at him, aggravation marring his features. "Are you going to get in or just stand there all night? You can't seriously think that you are going to get any of us pregnant just sitting in the water?"

Finn looked embarrassed. He still couldn't believe he had fallen for that. "It's just, that was the last time I was in a hot tub."

"Wait, what?" Blaine asked in confusion. He had heard all about Quinn lying to Finn about being pregnant with his child but he had never heard anything about a hot tub.

Finally Finn stepped into the water and sat down next to Rachel. "Nothing man. It's no big deal," Finn said waving his hand in dismissal. He really did not need to have that conversation again.

Unfortunately, Kurt thought they did. "Oh, did I not tell you that part of Babygate? Yeah, Quinn told him she got pregnant via hot tub and he believed her."

"Really Kurt? Do we have to talk about this?" Finn looked both pissed and distressed.

"I just don't understand how you could have fallen for that," Kurt continued to push.

"Because maybe I didn't want to believe that my girlfriend would cheat on me with my best friend and lie to me about having my baby! Sorry for wanting to trust my girlfriend!" Finn yelled angrily. Rachel rubbed his back soothingly, trying to calm him down. "God Kurt, why do you always have to push shit? Let's just drop it. It's done and over with. I know better now."

Kurt looked ashamed now. "Sorry. I shouldn't have pressed it further." The moment went awkward and they all sat there in silence.

Rachel was the first to break it. "So what's the plan for tomorrow? Just hang out around town?" She looked at all the boys' faces.

"Sounds good to me. We can see if there are any good movies playing at the theatre in town and maybe go to Castaway's for dinner and just chill on the beach," Blaine answered. "You know Finn, I believe I won that little wager we had going at the bowling alley."

Finn sighed. "Let's get this over with."

"Rachel, what do you think would be a good punishment for losing?" Blaine asked. She looked pensive as she tapped her finger to her chin and stared into the distance.

"That's not fair! She's going to make me strip naked and run into the lake or something!" Finn said loudly in protest.

"Actually, I was just going to suggest you buy us all dinner tomorrow but I like your idea better." Rachel laughed heartily as Finn's expression fell.

"I like your idea too Finn. I've always kind of wondered what that butt of yours looked like without clothes on it," Blaine said waggling his eyebrows at him playfully; Finn couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Kurt tried stifling a laugh but was failing miserably. Finn had shot himself in the foot.

Finn threw his head back annoyed with himself. "You could make me do anything and this is what you're choosing to make me do? Are you sure you want this? I could do all your chores for a month or be your own personal driver or something instead." He really did not want to have strip naked and jump in the lake.

"I could, but I still like your first idea better." Blaine and the other two laughed again. "The longer you put it off, the worse it'll get. Come on, it's pitch black out. No one will even see you."

He shook his head and his lips mashed into a tight line. Once again, he was being forced to strip, only this time there was no promise of sex after. Before he could let them taunt him anymore, he stood up and got out of the hot tub. "I hate you all." They all started laughing again. Finn used their distraction to his advantage and pulled his suit off quickly then started running for the lake. He could hear the howls of laughter and calls of 'nice butt' behind him but he wasn't stopping until his junk was covered by the lake water. Once he was past the rocks which painfully poked his feet, he dove headfirst into the waves. He resurfaced and headed back toward the house. The requirement had been to strip and jump in the lake. He filled it and was ready to get his trunks on again. Only once he got back to the patio, everyone was gone.

Panicked and cold, Finn looked around for his trunks but he couldn't find them anywhere. He covered himself as best he could with his hands but he was sure if anyone found him that way, they would still be able to see a lot more than he really wanted to show off. Quickly he tried to open the back door but it was locked. He pulled at the knob roughly but stopped when he heard Rachel's familiar giggle.

"Rachel, open the door right now!" he called out softly. He didn't want to raise his voice and draw attention from the neighbors on either side. "Seriously, you guys, this isn't funny!"

The three of them stood up, Blaine and Kurt laughing hysterically, from their hiding place behind the back wall of the enclosed porch. "Nice job Rachel! You hooked a winner," Blaine said as he appraised Finn's naked body. He gave her a high five.

"I seriously hate you all," Finn said through gritted teeth. Blaine and Kurt laughed again. Rachel looked kind of guilty now. "Rachel, I cannot believe you are doing this to me!"

Finally she gave in and opened the door. He bolted inside and pulled his trunks on with lightning speed. "Fuck you guys, I'm going to bed." Rachel tried grabbing his arm to comfort him after his humiliation but he pulled away from her and headed upstairs. Kurt, Blaine and Rachel followed after.

Finn walked into the pink bedroom and slammed the door behind him; a moment later Rachel meekly entered the room. "I'm sorry, Finn. That was uncalled for."

"You're damn right it was! Why would you guys do that to me?" Finn sat on the edge of the bed facing away from Rachel. She climbed onto it, knelt behind Finn and started giving him a backrub.

"I really am sorry Finn. We were just messing around and it got out of hand. I'm sorry I played any part in it." She pouted a bit trying to exude her sorrow through her voice. "I can think of a good way to make it up to you though," Rachel said wantonly, kissing his neck and shoulders lightly. Finn turned slightly to look at Rachel.

Though he was still pretty peeved that they all had locked him out of the house naked, Finn had to admit his interest was piqued. Little Finn tended to do more thinking than Big Finn when Rachel started talking like that. "How exactly would you do that?"

"I'm pretty sure Blaine and Kurt went to bed after you stormed up here so we could have that whole hot tub to ourselves." She stared at him timidly. Rachel was admittedly afraid that Finn would reject her out of spite after the stunt they had pulled on him.

Finn turned around further and really looked at Rachel. He had a very serious expression on his face. "What you guys did really hurt me, Rachel. It's going to take more than just sex in a hot tub to make it up to me." Rachel's face fell even more at Finn's words. She made to get off the bed to change out of her bathing suit but Finn held her back. "Which is why we are going to have sex in every room of this house." Finn stood up and pulled a now very happy Rachel off the bed and out the door.

That night Finn took his annoyance with Rachel out on her in the best way possible in every room but the one Kurt and Blaine were in. By the time they made it back to their own room neither felt like they would ever be able to move again, but Finn was no longer upset. In fact, as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep in Rachel's arms he thought that if this was what came from Rachel pissing him off then trying to make it up to him, he might let her get under his skin more often.


	17. Party Hard

I am a dirty, dirty freak. When I was writing the beginning of this chapter, I felt like my one Cory poster was staring at me judging me. I nearly took it down so he'd stop. lol Anyway, if you really like smut, this chapter is definitely for you.

* * *

><p>It was the Sunday before Memorial Day and Rachel was once again the first one awake. Only today she lounged in bed watching Finn continue to sleep instead of beginning the day. He looked so peaceful and like a little boy as a smile crept onto his face. She wondered what he was dreaming about.<p>

Rachel found it amazing how Finn could go from a rough and rugged man with a carnal passion that led to one of the craziest nights of her life to looking like the most adorable little five year old boy sleeping without a care in the world. She loved that quality in him. As she watched his face, she noticed his expression change to one she was quite familiar with. It was the look he always had when he was horny but couldn't do anything about it. Now Rachel really wondered what he was dreaming about.

Finn rolled from his side onto his back and as he did so the sheet popped up. Rachel's eyes widened at the tent right over Finn's hips and she now had an idea of what he was dreaming about. Then a very naughty thought crossed Rachel's mind. She was going to give Finn the best wake-up call ever.

Carefully and quietly so as not to rouse Finn from his slumber just yet, Rachel shimmied under the sheets and moved her head in the direction of the foot of the bed. Trying not to touch him and alert him to her plan, she swung her leg over his torso and placed her hands on either side of his hips.

Her heart pounded in her chest and she could hear her blood rushing in her ears. She and Finn had never done a 69 while both of them were awake much less her starting one off while he was asleep! Rachel was sure Finn would not mind however. She made herself comfortable over him and slowly started to run her fingertips over his hard on.

He shivered a little under her touch and Rachel sat up to see if he had woken up, but he was still asleep with that same little smile on his face. Rachel smiled to herself and leaned back down. She stared at his penis before darting her tongue out to wet his tip. Tentatively Rachel sucked on it a little more, coating it with her saliva.

Knowing it would drive him wild, awake or not, Rachel placed the tip of her forefinger at the base of the underside of Finn's shaft and swiped it up to the tip. His member twitched at her touch and she could feel his body shift under her. Rachel wrapped her hand around him at the base and started rubbing him up and down. She took him between her lips and went about halfway down before sucking back up, sliding her hand up at the same time to run her palm over the top of his penis as her mouth released him.

Using only her tongue, Rachel licked him up and down before taking Finn back into her mouth again. When he hit the back of her throat she started humming faintly, starting with a low pitch and getting higher and higher as she moved her mouth back up. Then she heard Finn moan her name and knew he was finally awake.

She continued to suck him off and as she did so, Finn gripped her toned behind and pulled Rachel toward his face. He could see that she was already very wet and this made him even harder. Finn dipped his fingers into her and him and Rachel both moaned; Rachel at Finn playing with her and Finn at Rachel's moan vibrating around his manhood.

Finn was trying very hard not to lose it yet as he wanted to pleasure Rachel some more before giving in to his body's desire. He pulled his fingers out of her then pulled Rachel down while she complied by pushing herself onto Finn's face. His tongue darted out to lick up some of her wetness slowly, just enjoying her taste.

Rachel released Finn with a small pop and whined loudly as Finn ran his tongue around her very sensitive skin. She leaned her head down and kissed his lower abdomen softly a few times as she moved her hand to fondle Finn's family jewels. The vibration from Finn's groan sent shockwaves through Rachel's body and she cried out loudly. Finn could feel her chest heave against him then felt her mouth back around his shaft.

He brought his tongue to just below her clit and gently swirled around the delicate nub causing Rachel's hips to buck further into his face. Agonizingly slow, Finn licked her up and down then performed a succession of quick swipes with his tongue directly over Rachel's clit. Rachel squeezed her eyelids together tightly and gripped the sheet harder. She let out a moan forcing Finn to jut his hips upward causing his tip to hit the back of Rachel's throat again. They were both so close.

Rachel knew she was about to explode and couldn't wait for the buildup of tension to finally be released. Her body was buzzing, all her nerves on fire from the intense pleasure Finn was giving her. She felt as if she were about to spontaneously combust. When Finn began sucking on her, she couldn't hold the floodgates anymore. She released Finn from her mouth and her entire body quaked as her back bowed and she pushed herself up on Finn to get herself as close to his mouth as possible.

Once the intense pleasure began dying down and the aftershocks set in, Rachel fell forward again, her head resting where Finn's hip and upper thigh met and wrapped her hand around Finn's penis. She stroked him sensually up and down, spreading the combination of her saliva and his own moisture around until she could feel his stomach clench and his penis get brick hard before finally erupting into her hand. Rachel could feel Finn's ragged breathing under her before she sat up, crawled out from under the sheet and knelt next to Finn facing him. Deciding to go all out dirty, Rachel brought the hand Finn came into up to her mouth and deliberately began licking it clean as she stared lasciviously into Finn's bugged out eyes. If he thought watching himself come on her back had been super hot, watching Rachel lick his cum off her fingers was on the level of supermegafoxyawesomehot, a term Blaine had created for the most ultimate sexy thing ever. Usually Rachel would just let Finn come in her mouth and swallow it. He'd never seen her play with it before.

"That is so fucking hot," Finn said in a deep rough voice as he stared at Rachel in awe. She smiled at him as she ran her tongue up her middle finger taking the sticky white substance onto it and rolling her tongue back into her mouth. She did this continually until her hand had been licked completely clean. Then she straddled Finn's waist again and leaned down to give him a kiss. He could taste himself on her lips.

"Good morning," she said softly with a smile on her face.

Finn cleared his very dry throat. "More like best fucking morning ever." He ran his hands up and down her thighs as she deepened the kiss she planted on him again. Finn moved his hands to her backside and was preparing to go again until Rachel started pulling away. "Where are you going?" he said as she rolled off him and got out of bed. She threw on some shorts and one of Finn's t-shirts.

"I'm hungry. I was going to head to the grocery store to get stuff to make some breakfast for everyone," Rachel said as she brushed her hair with her fingers and threw it up into a messy pony.

"Do we have to eat? Can't we just stay in bed all day?" Finn whined as he crawled over to the side of the bed Rachel stood next to and sat up on his knees.

Rachel looked at him disbelievingly. "Finn Hudson is passing up food? Is Hell freezing over too?" Rachel joked as Finn pulled her against him.

"I have an order of important things. Sex with my insanely hot girlfriend comes before food. Basically I'd starve to death if the only thing you ever wanted to do anymore was have sex," Finn explained. Rachel laughed and placed her hands flat against Finn's chest.

"Well, you need energy for sex, of which we are both very depleted, so we need food. Since everyone here besides me is a carnivore, I figured I'd buy some eggs and bacon and we need some juice and a few other perishables." Rachel pulled away from Finn and slipped on her flip flops. "I'll be back shortly." She kissed her boyfriend once more, grabbed a fresh pair of clothes then headed into the bathroom to clean up quickly.

Before heading downstairs, Rachel thought she would see if Blaine and Kurt wanted anything from the store. She knocked on their door but got no answer. "Kurt? Blaine?" she called out but still didn't get an answer. The thought occurred to her that maybe they had gone downstairs but she just wanted to check to make sure they weren't just sleeping. She opened the door and balked at what she saw.

"RACHEL!" Kurt screamed out as he noticed Rachel standing in the doorway.

"Oh my God, Kurt, Blaine, I am so sorry!" Rachel said quickly and nervously as she exited the room, slamming the door behind her. She stood outside the door in shock. Finn came out of their room with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Rachel? What's going on?"

Rachel stared up at him dumbfounded. "I just walked in on Kurt and Blaine." She paused. Finn stared at her wondering until it clicked in his brain. "They were having sex," Rachel said further.

Finn took in a deep shaky breath. "Apparently we weren't the only ones having a good morning." He laughed nervously. Though Rachel's dads had walked in on them naked together, he and Rachel hadn't ever been walked in on during sex. He could only imagine how awkward that would be for all parties involved. Finn pulled Rachel in for a comforting hug. "You might want to pick up some of those magic eraser things while you're at the store."

"Why?" Rachel looked up at him.

"To scrub your brain of any scarring mental images of Kurt and Blaine having sex," Finn joked. Rachel let out a small snort.

"Honestly, I've walked in on worse. Nothing is more scarring than walking in on your dads going at it. Fortunately I turned out okay." Rachel laughed and she and Finn turned their heads toward Blaine and Kurt's room when they heard the door open.

"Hey guys," Blaine said awkwardly as he walked out of the room in only his boxers and shut the door behind him.

"Nice job Blaine! You hooked a winner!" Rachel mimicked Blaine from the night prior. She was going to give him a high five too but thought better of it; she wasn't sure where his hands had been exactly. "Um, I'm going to the store. Did you want anything?"

He abashedly ran his hand through his curly untamed mane. "Do they sell dignity? Because I feel like I lost some. That was so embarrassing." Blaine replied.

"Blaine, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Sex is a natural part of any loving and committed relationship. You heard Finn and I the last two nights and probably other times and are we ashamed?" Rachel looked at Finn and he shrugged.

"Yeah, but we didn't walk in on you guys. There's a big difference." Just then Kurt exited the room in a robe. He looked at the ceiling in frustration.

"This isn't happening," he said pleadingly.

"Kurt, I'm sorry I walked in on you. I did knock and call out your names though. If I had any inkling that you two were…engaged like that, I never would have interrupted," Rachel apologized to the mortified couple.

Kurt blew out a sigh. "Let's just drop it. Nothing we can do about it now."

"Okay," Rachel said chewing on her lip. "I'm going to the store. Did you want anything?"

"Whatever you get is fine with me." With that he walked into the bathroom and Blaine said goodbye to Rachel and went back into his room.

"It's not even 10 am yet and I've already had a very eventful day," Rachel commented. Finn walked Rachel downstairs and out to the car. He offered to go with her but she declined stating that she just wanted a bit of alone time to sort through her thoughts.

She drove to the Jubilee nearby and bought enough food to make breakfast for that day and the next. As she was checking out she could overhear the two girls behind her talking.

"I swear this guy was so fine. He had this adorable half smile and the cutest dimples and his eyes…" the one girl said to the other. "I caught his plates as he drove away. They were from Ohio. Just my luck, I see a gorgeous guy and he's not from around here."

Rachel couldn't help but smile to herself. She had a strong suspicion that this girl was talking about Finn and it was confirmed when she glanced back at the girls. The brunette was the girl who had been working the drive through of the Tim Horton's they stopped at the morning before. Though she knew this girl had no chance she couldn't help but feel annoyed at her conversation.

The brunette continued to speak. "I noticed a chick in his backseat when I was handing the food out. At first I thought it might have been a girlfriend but she looked way too young for him. She was probably his little sister or something." Rachel's mouth fell open in offence at this girl's statement. She wanted to turn around and tell her off but instead took a deep breath and calmed herself. It wouldn't do any good to chew the girl out. She would never see them again after they left tomorrow and even if the girl did ever see them again, Rachel trusted Finn implicitly; he loved her and only her.

Finally Rachel's order was totaled and she paid then headed out to her car. Twenty minutes later Rachel was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Finn entered the kitchen, wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist and kissed her cheek. "That smells delicious."

"Says you. I hate the smell of bacon. It's all just grease and fat and meat," Rachel said wrinkling her nose at it.

"Exactly!" Finn said. "Bacon is the best part of breakfast. Did you need me to help with anything?"

"No, I've got it. The bacon is the hardest part and it's close to being finished." After that Rachel started making up plates for everyone complete with vegan French toast, fresh fruit and bacon for the carnivores.

Breakfast was only slightly awkward but once they began discussing further plans for the day, they all lightened up. "So, I was thinking we could head down to one of the public beaches and maybe see if anyone was around to play Frisbee or volleyball or something. Plus, there are playgrounds at the public beaches!" Blaine recalled with excitement.

"You're 18 years old and you're getting excited about a playground?" Kurt deadpanned.

Blaine looked offended. "I like the swings."

Rachel chuckled. "It's okay Blaine. I like to swing too. It's very relaxing." Rachel shot Kurt an un-amused look. Clearly he ended up in a bad mood after Rachel walking in on him and Blaine that morning.

When they were finished eating, they all threw on their bathing suits and headed to the beach down at Castaways. There were quite a few people there enjoying the great weather. The lake was still a bit cold to actually swim in but at least they could get some nice tans…or in Finn and Kurt's cases nice burns.

They found a spot without too many people around and laid out their towels. Once they were set up Blaine and Finn decided to see if they could get some people to play volleyball. They asked Kurt and Rachel to join them but they opted out. Rachel wanted to sunbathe and Kurt didn't want to perspire any more than necessary, it was bad for his pores.

Blaine and Finn searched the beach for people they thought might want to play and spotted some guys on the basketball court playing ball. They figured that would be just as good seeing as Finn had been on the basketball team and Blaine just enjoyed the game so they thought they'd ask if they could join them. On the walk over however, Finn got tripped up on a large piece of driftwood hidden in the sand and fell face first into a female sunbather's behind.

"What the hell?" she screeched as Finn's face made contact with her bathing suit clad butt. Finn quickly scrambled back to his feet and began apologizing profusely.

"I am so sorry! I tripped on a piece of wood and lost my balance and…I'm so sorry," he said to the girl. He could tell the girl was about to bitch him out when she stood up but as she turned around her face softened and she actually smiled.

"Oh, it's no problem. Accidents happen!" she said sweetly, smiling at Finn and twirling her hair.

Finn looked over at Blaine. For some reason he felt like he was in a trap. "Well, we should probably go. Again, I'm so sorry." The girl continued to stare at him with that smile until she happened to glance at Blaine.

"Blaine? Blaine Anderson?" she asked hesitantly. Blaine looked at the girl knowingly for a moment. "It's me! Jordan Jameson! Remember?" After a moment understanding crossed his face.

"Oh my gosh! Jordan! Hi, how are you?" Blaine said going in to give the girl a hug.

"I'm doing great! How about you? I haven't seen you in years!" She gripped his hands in hers.

Blaine nodded. "I'm good; just enjoying a little mini-vacation with my boyfriend and some friends." Jordan looked surprised at this bit of information.

"Boyfriend? So you're gay?" she said looking back and forth between Blaine and Finn. Her face fell slightly.

"Well, I am, he's not. He's one of the friends. No, my boyfriend is over there trying to keep from roasting in the sun," Blaine said pointing in the direction Kurt and Rachel were in. They all looked over and chuckled at Kurt sitting on the blanket with towels covering all his bare skin.

Jordan shook her head. "I can't believe how long it's been since I've seen you! We need to catch up. Oh my gosh! I have the perfect idea! My friend Isabelle is having a party at her house tonight! You guys should totally stop by. She loves meeting new people so I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you dropped by and you can bring your boyfriend…and your friends," Jordan said, appraising Finn. "Give me your number and I'll text you the time and place."

Blaine and Jordan exchanged information and promised to see each other later. As Finn and Blaine walked away Finn asked, "Who was that?"

"Oh Jordan? She lived on the street across from my aunt and uncle's house. When I was younger and would come up here during the summer we'd hang out. She's really nice," Blaine explained. They made it to the basketball court finally and the guys already playing were friendly enough to let Finn and Blaine join them for a few games.

When they were ready for dinner, Blaine and Finn found Rachel and Kurt at the swing set up on the hill. Rachel was flying so high she nearly kicked Finn in the face as he walked up to them from behind and got just a touch too close. As she slowed her swinging and got a little lower to the ground, she jumped off the swing and landed perfectly on her feet then stood up like a gymnast after a perfect vault. Finn clapped a few times for her then gave her a sweet little kiss. Kurt grabbed their bag with all their towels and the blanket and they walked over to Castaways.

As they ate an early dinner on the second floor back patio, Blaine told Rachel and Kurt about Jordan's party. "She said she'd text me with the location and time later. We don't have to stay too long but I thought it would be nice to stop by. It's been so long since I've seen her. I hardly recognized her." Just then his phone buzzed. "Oh, it's her. She says the party is on Taft and to come anytime between eight and nine. So you guys wanna go?"

"Sure, I guess we could stop by for a bit," Rachel said and everyone else shook their heads in agreement.

After eating, the four of them returned to the house and the couples went their separate ways. Kurt and Blaine headed upstairs while Finn and Rachel sat in the living room to watch a movie. Finn was drained from playing basketball out in the hot sun all day and passed out a few minutes into the flick. After a while Rachel found herself dozing off while lying on Finn's chest.

A few hours later, Rachel awoke to the sound of Kurt singing upstairs. She looked at the clock and saw that it was about quarter after eight. Though they didn't have to be there at a specific time Rachel figured it was time for her and Finn to get up and get ready for the party.

Rachel put on a nice peach and yellow sundress with a floral pattern and pulled her hair back into a half pony. Finn just threw on a clean Journey t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts. Even though Kurt had started getting ready before everyone else he was the last to finish. As always, he was dressed to impress in one of his nicest summer outfits. Blaine, much like Finn, had opted for a simple red polo and shorts combo. Finally they headed over to Presidents' Row, so named because eight streets in a row were all named after US presidents Blaine explained.

When they arrived at the large house, the party was already in full swing despite only being about nine. They parked a little down the street and walked back up to the house. The party wasn't as out of control as Puck's had been on St. Patrick's Day but it was definitely crazier than either of Rachel's parties had been.

They entered the house and Blaine and Kurt went in search of Jordan leaving Rachel and Finn to mill around awkwardly among the local teenagers. Finn had offered to be DD that night so he didn't accept any of the drinks that a few girls had offered him, much to Rachel's chagrin. That was literally the only problem with dating Finn; girls practically threw themselves at him. While it was flattering, it was also very annoying since once the girls realized Rachel was his girlfriend they shot her dirty looks.

Though she really didn't want to, about forty minutes after arriving Rachel had to leave Finn to pee. She only had two Mike's, but they had run through her quickly and were making her feel uncomfortable. She left Finn with some guys he had been playing pool with and went to wait in line. It wasn't that long but she didn't want to leave Finn's side at all. Rachel didn't know any of these people and as the girls there got drunker they got handsier. She trusted Finn but she did not trust any of those girls as far as she could throw them.

The line moved slowly and while Rachel waited she people watched until she noticed a familiar brunette. It was the girl from Tim Horton's and Jubilee and she was heading in Finn's direction. Upon noticing her, Rachel really wanted to say screw it and head back to Finn but the bathroom door opened and she was next in line. Deciding nothing too bad could happen in the amount of time it would take her to use the bathroom Rachel quickly darted into the room. When she came out she immediately rushed over to Finn again.

Rachel had been wrong about nothing too bad happening in the short amount of time she had been in the bathroom. As she walked back into the area containing the pool table she saw the brunette grab Finn's face and pull it toward her after he had sunk the five ball in the corner pocket. She planted a huge kiss on Finn's mouth before he could pull away and Rachel was pissed. She bolted over to the girl and ripped her off Finn by her long ponytail. "Just what the hell do you think you are doing?" Rachel screeched at the girl. The brunette looked at her with a hostile expression.

"I was kissing a hot guy which is really none of your business!" the girl yelled back.

"Oh it is my business when the guy is my boyfriend!" Rachel glared at the girl. The brunette laughed at Rachel's statement.

"Your boyfriend? There's no way this guy is your boyfriend. He's way too hot for an ugly little hobbit like you," the girl smirked rudely at Rachel as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Finn stepped between Rachel and the brunette before Rachel could lunge at the girl. "Look Jordan, I don't know who you think you are but no one talks about my girlfriend like that. Rachel is the most beautiful woman I know and I love her. You have no right to speak that way to her."

Rachel moved around Finn and looked up at him. "This is Blaine's friend Jordan?" she asked warily. Rachel couldn't believe Blaine was friends with such a bitch.

"Seriously, you _love_ this girl?" Jordan scoffed as she looked at Rachel with distaste on her face. "Why would you want her when you could get a much hotter chick, like me? This girl looks like a hideously misshapen Jewish munchkin."

Before her brain could register the reaction, Rachel punched Jordan square in the face. The girl stumbled backward clutching her nose in her hands. Rachel shook her hand out which now hurt to move and looked at Finn who had shock all over his face. "Finn, let's go," she said sternly but before she could move from the area, Jordan recovered and pulled Rachel back by her half pony and whipped her around and flung her on the pool table. Jordan climbed on top of Rachel and cocked her hand back to wail on her but before she could get a punch in Finn ripped her away from his girlfriend.

Jordan thrashed about in Finn's grip, screaming obscenities at Rachel and causing a huge scene that everyone in the room's attention was on now. "You stupid bitch! You broke my nose!" she shrieked at her. Rachel looked at her smugly and smoothed out her dress.

"Well maybe that will teach you not to kiss other people's boyfriends and to be nicer to people!" Rachel said loudly. She'd had enough of people making fun of her. Rachel made to storm out of the room but Jordan elbowed Finn in the ribs and he lost his grip on her and she charged at Rachel from behind and knocked her to the floor. Jordan started hitting Rachel in any way she could and bits of fabric started flying everywhere as the girls tore at each other's clothes. Now every eye at the party was on the two girls fighting and everyone was yelling words of encouragement at the girls. Finn even heard some guys saying they should throw some pudding on them as he tried to tear his girlfriend and Jordan apart.

"What the hell?" Blaine said as he and Kurt entered the room and saw his two friends fighting each other on the floor. He helped Finn pull them apart then demanded to know what was going on.

"This bitch started it! She fucking punched me in the face!" Jordan roared from Blaine's arms.

Finn was holding Rachel back. "You were the one who kissed my boyfriend then insulted me!"

Blaine looked shocked. "You kissed him then insulted her?"

"Yeah, I didn't know he had a girlfriend and an ugly one at that," she spit in Rachel's direction. Rachel struggled in Finn's arms, trying to hit the girl again. She wasn't usually one for violence but the combination of the alcohol in her system and the girl's advance on Finn plus her insults made Rachel see red.

"Jordan, that is so uncalled for. I'm sorry but we're leaving," Blaine said handing her off to some other guy to hold her back while Finn walked Rachel out of the room. As she passed by however, Jordan literally spit in Rachel's face. For as tiny as Rachel was compared to Finn, he found he had to use every bit of muscle he had to keep her from attacking the girl again. He had never seen her so enraged. Not even when the football team had to join glee for that one week junior year and they all started fighting.

Finally, they dragged Rachel out of the house and threw her into the car. Jordan had tried following them outside but some of the guys at the party had been decent enough to keep her back. As they drove back to the house Rachel stared out the window and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Jesus Rachel, I didn't know you could fight like that!" Blaine commented from the front seat. "For someone so small, you sure pack a punch." Rachel smiled slightly. Though she didn't condone fighting she was glad to know she could at least hold her own if she had to.

They made it back to the house and upon entering the kitchen Finn grabbed two ice packs and towels. "Come on Rach, I think we should call it a night and head to bed."

Rachel shook her head in agreement. They said goodnight to Blaine and Kurt who were sitting in the living room and went upstairs. Rachel walked into the bathroom and Finn followed her. She started at the image in the mirror.

"Oh my God!" Rachel shouted as she took in the extent of the damage. She hadn't even realized what hurt until she finally saw it. Her face was a mess. Mascara ran down her cheeks and she could see the beginning of a shiner under her right eye. Her lip was bloody and swollen a bit and her hair was a total disaster. Rachel's dress had been ruined as Jordan had ripped it down the middle exposing her cotton white bra and her hand hurt when she moved it. She didn't think it was broken but it was definitely bruised pretty badly.

Finn soaked a washcloth in warm water and began helping Rachel wash the make-up and blood off her face. She winced when he touched the darkening shiner. "I'm so sorry for acting that way Finn. I shouldn't have punched her. It wasn't appropriate." She glanced down at the floor with shame.

Finn grabbed her chin and pulled her face up to look at him. "It's okay Rachel. She kinda deserved it for what she said to you. If a dude had ever said anything like that to you, I'd have punched him. Hell, I wanted to punch her but it's never right to hit a woman."

"Still, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. I just couldn't control myself! Watching her put her stupid lips on yours and all those things she said to me just pissed me off so much! I can't believe I let her get to me like that. I should have used my words instead."

Finn sighed and rinsed the washcloth. "It happens. I let Jesse get to me at prom last year and you weren't even my girlfriend at the time. When it comes to people we care about we don't always think before we act."

Rachel huffed. "We need to stay away from people who have unisex J names like Jesse and Jordan. They seem to cause nothing but trouble for us."

Finn snickered. "You know, they both even have James in their last names. Jordan's last name is Jameson," he recalled.

"Well that settles it then, if we ever come across anyone meeting those criteria we turn in the other direction and get as far away as possible. I don't need to end up with another black eye."

Once Rachel's face was cleaned up and her hair was tamed, Finn and Rachel headed into their room and changed into their pajamas. They crawled into bed and Finn held Rachel in his arms as she put the ice packs he had grabbed on her eye and hand. They stayed up talking for a bit about the events of their evening until Rachel's breathing got heavier and she drifted off to sleep.

Finn lied awake for a bit longer just watching his girlfriend sleep after he removed her ice packs. He couldn't believe how fierce she had been while beating the crap out of Jordan. Though she was little she was determined and that was yet another thing Finn loved about Rachel. She was willing to fight for the things she loved and stand up for herself no matter what people said. Finn knew Rachel had already faced so much adversity and would come across even more in the future but he knew she would come out on top and he couldn't be happier to be able to watch her do it.


	18. Bruises and Banners

Now the exciting conclusion to Memorial Day weekend!

* * *

><p>It was finally Memorial Day and Rachel had woken up extremely sore. Her eye was swollen and she could barely see out of it; her hand was swollen too and killed every time she moved it and she noticed that when she breathed deeply her ribs ached. Rachel was in so much pain it took her a minute to realize she had woken up in bed alone.<p>

She sat up and looked around even though she knew Finn wasn't in the room. Carefully Rachel got out of bed and went over to the mirror over the dresser. Her eye looked about as bad as it felt and she lifted her shirt to look at where her ribs hurt and gasped in shock and pain at the large bruise that had developed on her right side. Jordan had really done a number on her little body. She wondered if the girl felt half as bad as she did that morning.

As Rachel appraised her torso, the door opened and Finn walked in carrying a tray of food. "Oh my God, Rachel! Are you okay?" he asked with concern before putting the tray down on the dresser and going to Rachel to look at her bruise.

"It stings when I breathe. I don't think anything's broken but obviously bruised," Rachel said as Finn bent to look at the large contusion. He lightly brushed his fingers over it and Rachel sucked in a sharp breath of pain.

"I can't believe she did this to you." Finn was steamed. He hated that his tiny girlfriend had been knocked around so hard by a girl who had at least five inches on her and several pounds. From where Finn had been standing as he tried to break the girls up, it seemed like Jordan had been putting her all into the fight too.

Rachel exhaled slowly and headed back over to the bed. "It's my own fault. If I hadn't of punched her she never would have come at me."

Finn shook his head. "It doesn't matter who started it Rachel, the point is she hit you hard enough that your ribs are bruised. I've taken hits from nearly 300 pound guys in football that weren't even that bad. I think you should go to the hospital and get your hand and ribs checked, just to be sure," Finn said with genuine worry. He was sure _he_ would be feeling like shit after taking a beating like that, he couldn't imagine how Rachel must have been feeling.

"We'll miss the parade they're having in town then. I really wanted to go," Rachel whined in protest.

"Who cares about some stupid parade in some town where we don't know anyone? Rachel, you need to get your body checked out." He sat down next to Rachel and grabbed her hand. "Please Rach, for me. I just want to know you're okay."

Rachel looked apprehensive. Every time she went to the doctor with Finn she received bad news; she was afraid if they went today she might find out she had some incurable disease or something. "How about we compromise? We'll go to the parade first then immediately after we'll head to the nearest hospital?"

"Rachel," Finn started to protest.

"Finn," Rachel mimicked. "It's my body and I don't feel like anything is broken and even if it is I don't think waiting a few extra hours will kill me. The bones will still be broken whether we go now or later."

Finn sighed in defeat. "I don't get why you want to go to this parade so badly, but fine. You can't back out though. We are going to the hospital before we head home," Finn placated his stubborn girlfriend. He kissed her temple gently and stood up to grab the tray of food he had brought Rachel. "I brought you breakfast in bed and grabbed you some fresh ice packs."

Rachel leaned her back against the headboard and Finn placed the tray over her legs. She smiled up at him brightly. "Thank you Finn. This was so thoughtful of you," she said taking in the breakfast he'd brought her. It was just cereal with some fruit in it and soy milk with some toast and juice but Rachel thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

Finn crawled back into bed next to Rachel and checked his phone. He had received a text from his mother wondering what time they'd be home. The plan had been to leave around four to be back by 10 but with Rachel wanting to go to the parade before heading to the hospital, he wasn't sure when they'd be back now. He called his mom.

"Hey sweetie! How's your trip going?" Carole asked when she answered on the third ring.

Finn glanced at Rachel. "Overall it's been pretty good. Canada was awesome and we played basketball at the beach," Finn said. _Rachel and I had awesome sex every day,_ Finn added silently to himself. His mom didn't need to know that part.

"What time do you think you'll be getting in tonight?" she asked him again.

Finn breathed out. "Um, I'm not sure. I'm taking Rachel to the hospital later and I don't know how long we'll be there."

"What? Why does Rachel need to go to the hospital? Is she okay?" Carole screeched into the phone.

"Calm down Mom, Rachel is fine, mostly. She just has a few bruises we need to get checked out. She got into a fight last night," Finn replied like it was no big deal.

Carole stuttered into the phone. "Ra-Rachel, Rachel Berry, got into a fight yesterday? With whom might I ask and why?"

"Some old friend of Blaine's who kissed me. It's okay though. Rachel is fine, mostly. I don't know when we'll be home but I'll keep you updated. Please don't worry," Finn begged into the phone. He should have realized when he began to explain, his mother would probably start freaking out.

"You better keep me updated and no more fighting! You all need to make it back in one piece. I don't want to have to explain to the Berrys and Andersons that their children are dead." Finn promised they would do their best to return safe and sound and hung up with his mother.

"Did you want to call your dads?" Finn asked Rachel as she chewed on a spoonful of cereal. She shook her head no.

"I'd rather not burden them with unnecessary worry. I'll explain everything when I see them in person. There's nothing they can do about it anyway." Rachel took a bite of her toast.

"Why didn't I think of that?" They both chuckled and Finn kissed Rachel's cheek before standing up. "I was gonna shower. Do you need anything before I get in?" She shook her head no and told him to have a good shower.

Ten minutes later, Finn was drying off in their room and Rachel was in the shower. The hot water was doing wonders for her sore body and she stood in there for much longer than was necessary. When her fingers started going pruny, the water began running cold and Kurt walked in yelling about needing to take a shower, Rachel finally finished up and walked back into her room to get dried and dressed.

Finn was lying on the bed in shorts and a t-shirt playing with his phone when Rachel walked in, wrapped in a towel. He looked up at her and smiled. "Feel better?"

"I do. The hot water felt so good." Rachel used a smaller towel she had swiped from the linen closet to remove the excess water from her hair then began brushing it. Finn sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Come here," he said tenderly, extending his hand out and waving his fingers in a beckoning movement.

Rachel turned around and walked over to Finn. "Finn, I know you want sex and I do too, but I'm much too sore," she said having a feeling she knew what he wanted before stopping directly in front of him.

"I'm always up for sex with you but actually that's not what I was thinking of just now, amazingly enough." Rachel looked blown away at his words. "I just wanted to hold you." Trying not to touch her sore areas Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist and tugged her toward him. He placed his cheek against her stomach and just held her like that for a minute.

Rachel played with his hair and a warm fuzzy feeling washed over her. Sometimes she still couldn't believe that Finn was hers and hers alone. What Jordan had said about Finn being able to get a "much hotter chick" was true. He'd had Quinn twice and had been with Santana. He had kissed literally every girl in the school. Finn could get any girl he wanted but he only wanted Rachel and some days she still couldn't wrap her mind around it.

For a very long time Rachel didn't feel like she deserved Finn. He was kind and sweet and the big man on campus. She was a dorky little pain-in-the-butt that never shut up. When it came to the physical side, Finn was gorgeous. He turned heads when he walked by and girls would gawk at him like he was a god. The only person who ever looked at her like that, besides Finn, was Jacob Ben Israel. She didn't have in your face beauty that society appreciated. But in the past year, her feelings changed.

After her Barbravention, Rachel accepted herself implicitly and vowed to never change herself for anyone else. She really started to feel comfortable in her skin and to feel beautiful. The feeling was enforced whenever she caught Finn staring at her for no reason other than he wanted to look at her and every time he told her how beautiful she was and how much he loved her, Rachel felt like she _was _worthy of Finn. It didn't matter that she wasn't the conventional beauty that society craved; Rachel felt beautiful to herself and for Finn and that was all that mattered.

Finn pulled his head away from Rachel's stomach and un-wrapped the towel from her body. "Finn, I'm too so-"

"Shh," was all Finn said as he placed a finger to her lips. He wasn't trying to have sex with Rachel. He just wanted to show her tender body a little tender loving care. His fingertips swept over the dewy skin of her abdomen and he lightly brushed them over her bruise. Her breath hitched and her body clenched. He looked up at her apologetically then pressed his lips to her tummy and placed his hands on her hips.

Rachel put her hands on his shoulders and ran the one that wasn't practically broken down his back smoothly. He moaned against her skin a little and Rachel bit her lip. Finn pulled away momentarily and noticed a single droplet of water trail down the valley between her breasts and slow down just above her belly button. Finn moved forward and licked it from her body causing her to giggle. Rachel let out a cry of pain and Finn immediately stopped what he was doing.

"It hurts so much to laugh," she said clutching her side. "I'm sorry baby, I love what you're doing but I just can't today. My ribs can't take it."

Finn looked at Rachel defeated. She pouted at Finn in sympathy and moved away from him to get dressed. Finn had to help her get her bra and shirt on as it was too painful to really stretch the way she needed to do it herself. Once she was in her white sleeveless blouse and blue and green mini-skirt with her make-up done to cover her bruise as best as possible, Finn and Rachel headed downstairs. They found Blaine stretched out on the couch watching cartoons on Boomerang.

"How's your face Rachel?" Blaine asked, sitting up to make room for them on the couch.

"Better than my ribs. I have a huge bruise on my side." She lifted her shirt to show him. Blaine took in a sharp breath and made a pained expression.

"Ouch. I'm really sorry Rachel. I don't know what Jordan's problem was. When I knew her she was the sweetest girl. Of course we were twelve the last time I saw her…"

Kurt walked downstairs in a robe. "What are we doing today before we leave? I need to know so I can dress appropriately."

"Rachel wants to go to the parade in town. Then I was going to take her to the hospital to get checked out. I just want to be sure nothing is broken," Finn provided.

Kurt clapped excitedly. "I know just what to wear for the parade! But why aren't you taking Rachel to the hospital first?" he said coming down from his mini-high as Finn's words sunk in.

"The parade starts at 11. If I go to the hospital now we'll completely miss it. If I have any broken bones they'll still be broken after it's over. We'll only get to see the parade once," Rachel applied her logic. Kurt headed back upstairs to get his ensemble on and Blaine followed him to get changed while Finn and Rachel watched old Dexter's Laboratory cartoons.

It was about 10 am when Kurt finally ambled downstairs. He was wearing navy blue skinny jeans and a white fitted t-shirt with red and blue stars all over it. He had on a red, white and blue striped visor and some shiny red sneakers. Rachel just stared at him; he was like a gay Uncle Sam. Blaine came down behind him in a much simpler t-shirt and jeans.

"You brought an outfit like that with you on vacation?" Rachel asked Kurt skeptically.

"Well it is Memorial Day. I celebrate America through my wardrobe. Are we going or what?" Kurt said as he led the way to the door.

When they got into town, parking was damn near impossible to find. It was like the entire town came out for the parade. They ended up having to park at what was apparently an elementary school and walk all the way back to Main St. It wasn't that far but it was still quite a trek.

They managed to find a spot in the shade to watch the parade from across from the gas station that didn't actually sell gas. A few minutes after 11 they could see and hear the parade coming toward them. There were a few antique cars carrying what appeared to be the town's elected officials in them at the front and behind them was the high school's marching band. Two cheerleaders stood in front of them carrying a banner with the school's name on it and a soaring eagle. They were the Lake Shore Eagles. The band stopped for a moment to play a song. The musicians wore these hideous and hot looking dark green and white marching band uniforms and on their heads were silly looking dark green cowboy hats. None of the band members seemed to be enjoying themselves.

About halfway through the song the band started marching again and behind them were the school's Varsity cheerleaders. Rachel watched as they did a random cheer about their school and when she saw a familiar brunette her blood boiled. It was Jordan.

"I should have known she was a cheerleader," Rachel said through gritted teeth to Finn. He didn't understand until Rachel pointed Jordan out. Finn noticed the girl had dark bruises under her eyes and tape on her nose. It appeared that Rachel really had broken it. He smiled at his tough little girlfriend, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

Before the Varsity squad had fully moved on, Jordan spotted them in the crowd and her face hardened. She whipped her head forward again and continued to cheer with the rest of the cheerleaders. Clearly she was still sore about being punched in the face.

The rest of the parade was just your average slew of school clubs, fire and police department vehicles and Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, etc… but Rachel had enjoyed it. She liked how parades brought people together to appreciate the good things about the town. Then she realized something. "Oh Finn! You were supposed to be in the parade at home with the rest of the football team, weren't you?"

Finn's face fell. "Oh, yeah," he said dejectedly. "Coach Beiste is going to kill me for missing it!" He couldn't believe that he had forgotten. Finn had been so distracted by the idea of a road trip with everyone that he neglected to remember his duty to the football team. Honestly he was glad that he had gone on the trip instead; minus Rachel getting into a fight, it had been way better than hanging around Lima for the weekend and having to sit like a prized pony on some float in a parade he didn't want to be in. "Whatever, nothing we can do about it now. Besides, watching this parade with you is way better than being in one without you." Finn leaned down to kiss Rachel then they all walked back to the car.

About three hours later Rachel and Finn sat in the emergency room waiting for the doctor to come back to show Rachel her x-rays. "I really don't think anything is broken Finn. Please stop worrying so much." He had been pacing nervously. Every time he had gone to the doctor's office with Rachel and told her she would be fine, the doctor always proved him wrong. What if he was a jinx? Just then the ER doctor reappeared.

"From what I can see, nothing appears to be broken. There's obviously some bruising which could take a while to heal. Stay away from any vigorous activities which could aggravate it and you should be fine; same for the hand and eye. If you want you could put a warm washcloth on the areas and that should help improve circulation a bit which will help with healing faster and take some over-the-counter medicines for any pain; just not aspirin. So unless you have any questions, you're free to go." He stood and waited for a sec to see if Rachel had any questions but she didn't. Then he left.

"Thank God, I'm not a jinx!" Finn roared as he pulled Rachel in for a hug.

"Owowowowow, Finn, you're hurting me!" Rachel yelled out. He released her quickly, realizing his mistake.

"Sorry, I forgot." He looked at her sheepishly as she gripped her side trying to ease the pain.

Rachel tightened her lips and spoke in a pained voice through them. "It's okay. Just try to remember from now on." Finn nodded and gently hugged her again. They walked out to the waiting room where Blaine and Kurt had been sitting for the past hour. The nearest hospital had actually been in the direction home so they had just decided to pack everything in the SUV and head out stopping at the hospital on the way. Kurt was asleep on Blaine's shoulder.

"Anything broken?" Blaine asked quietly.

Rachel shook her head. "No, just bruises like I thought. He said it could take a while to heal though and no vigorous activity until then."

"Oh God, now I'm going to have to put up with sexual frustration Finn," Kurt said as he came to and sat up. "He's like a dog with a bone. Take it away from him and all he does is whine."

Rachel blushed. The thought had crossed her mind that they would probably have to go for a while before being able to pick up their steamier amorous activities again. She was looking forward to it about as much as she had been looking forward to getting punched in the eye.

Finn ignored Kurt's jibe at his inability to go a few weeks without getting any and headed toward the exit holding Rachel's hand. They stopped for food before heading out and about six hours later they had finally made it back to the familiar setting of Lima. Blaine would be spending the night at the Hummel-Hudson house as they had arrived back to town so late and he had a bit of a drive to get home. That meant they only had to drop Rachel off.

They pulled into her driveway and the light was still on outside which meant at least one of her dads was still awake. She had explained in a quick phone call after they left the hospital that they would be home a bit later than anticipated and they shouldn't wait up for her, but she had a feeling they would anyway. Finn got out of the driver's seat to walk Rachel to the house and as they approached the porch, Leroy opened the door to greet his daughter and nearly screamed at her appearance.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, what in the lord's name happened to your face?" he shrieked as he pulled her face toward him so he could get a better look at her black eye.

"I kinda got into a fight at a party." Rachel then launched into a quick synopsis of what had happened. By the end of it Leroy looked like he wanted to punch something and based on the way he was looking at him, Finn had an idea that it was his face Leroy wanted to punch.

"This is your fault!" he yelled at Finn.

"Dad, it's not his fault. It's mine. I'm the one who started the fight," Rachel tried to explain to her overly emotional father. Even though Finn had been the catalyst, Rachel had in fact thrown the first punch and started the fight. She smiled inwardly at the thought. She could actually say she had started a fight. Who would have ever thought that? "Can we please just move on from your over-protective-dad schtick? I'm tired and sore and I really just want to go to bed." Rachel looked at her father pleadingly.

"Goodnight Finn," Leroy said evenly as he stared at his daughter.

Finn blinked a few times then said goodnight to Rachel and headed back to the SUV. He wanted to kiss her goodnight but he was afraid if he tried Leroy might really punch him in the face. He watched Leroy lead Rachel into the house and waved goodbye as Rachel looked at him one last time. Then he backed out the driveway and headed for his own house.

Once she was upstairs in her room after her father's rant about her total lack of propriety in dealing with Jordan at the party, Rachel got undressed with some difficulty then realized she would not be able to get a nightgown on if she tried. Getting dressed for the next few days was going to be a nuisance. Forgoing pajamas altogether, Rachel soaked a washcloth in warm water to put over her bruise like the doctor had said, shut off her light then got as comfortable in her bed as possible.

Then her phone buzzed. She looked at the bright screen and saw it was Finn calling. "Hey Finn, miss me already?" Rachel asked cutely.

"I just wanted to say goodnight. My bed feels empty without you in it," Finn said quietly. Rachel couldn't help but snort.

"That is so cheesy Finn, but I appreciate it. It was nice being able to sleep in each other's arms. I could get used to waking up to your face every morning. Not so much your breath, but…"

"Hey, I'm not the only one with morning breath, Miss Snores-a-lot," Finn teased with a chuckle.

"Finn, you know I have a deviated septum. I can't help my snoring!" Rachel chided.

"I know. Your little snores are cute…when they're not right in my ear." Rachel smiled. The line went silent for a moment. "You know everyone is going to want to know what the hell happened to you. It's not every day that Rachel Berry shows up to school with a black eye and busted lip."

Rachel sighed. "Yeah, I figured as much. I wonder if anyone will believe it. They might just think you were dancing too close to me again." They both laughed at the memory before Rachel remembered laughing hurt too much. "I should go to bed Finn. My body needs rest. I love you."

"I love you too," Finn replied before saying goodnight a final time.

Rachel put her phone on her side table and turned onto her un-bruised side. As Rachel's ribs ached, thoughts of the weekend floated through her mind, and maybe it was the drama queen in her, but even getting the crap kicked out of her couldn't bring Rachel to regret going on the trip. It had been one of the best weekends of her life and it had provided a glimpse into what her and Finn's life could be like on their own. Though it was just a small glimpse, it was a nice one and Rachel couldn't wait to finally see the bigger picture.

* * *

><p>Fun fact: I had to wear those hideous and hot green and white marching band uniforms with the stupid green cowboy hats freshman year of high school because everyone in band had to be in the marching band. I attended Lake Shore for half the year because my mom was in Kuwait with the navy. Marching in that parade was about as much fun as a root canal. Also my grandmother kept taking pictures of the wrong girl.<p> 


	19. Papa Do Preach

I'm gonna admit I had some difficulty with this chapter so I need to say a big thank you to my friend Shelby for giving me the idea that led to the idea I came up with and a big thank you to my other friend Melissa for reading this over for me before posting it. Her comments were very helpful. So, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Also I just made up Blaine's parents names since we don't actually know them.

* * *

><p>It was Father's Day and everyone in the Hummel-Hudson house was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, except Burt. Kurt had come up with the idea of throwing a Father's Day Soiree in honor of Burt as well as Hiram and Leroy Berry and to Blaine's reluctance, Mark Anderson. He had been barking orders at Finn and Rachel all day and even Carole and Burt were having a hard time calming Kurt down.<p>

He needed everything to be perfect. This was the first time that his parents and Blaine's parents were meeting despite him and Blaine having been together for over a year. Kurt himself had only met Blaine's parents not even a handful of times as Blaine was always worried his father might offend him which was why Blaine was so averse to having them over at the Hummel's. Mark Anderson was not as accepting of his son's lifestyle as Burt was of Kurt's. Knowing this, Kurt was doing everything he could to impress upon the Andersons that although it may not be what they had pictured for their son, Blaine was happy and that was all that really mattered.

"Rachel! You need to get the soufflé out now!" Kurt screeched in Rachel's ear as the timer went off on the range. It had barely buzzed for two seconds but Kurt was acting as if it was about to burn down the house because it had caught fire. She rushed over to the oven and pulled the perfect soufflé out and as Kurt noticed its perfection he let out a sigh of relief. "At least _some_thing went right today."

"Kurt, you need to relax. Everything looks great, the food tastes great; I'm sure this party will go swimmingly," Rachel said in a soothing voice as she placed her hands on Kurt's shoulders. She could feel the tension radiating from him. "Why are you so tense Kurt?"

Kurt shook his head slightly. "From what Blaine has told me, his parents are just so close-minded and judgmental. I need everything to be perfect. They already hate me for being Blaine's boyfriend; I won't let them hate me for anything else."

Rachel looked sympathetic. "Kurt, I'm sure they don't hate you for being Blaine's boyfriend."

"Oh, I know they do. At least I know his dad does. He tries to play nice and appears to accept Blaine's choices on the outside but deep down there is something very dark. I've only met the man a few times but I could even tell that."

Finn walked into the kitchen looking nervous. "I'm so sorry Kurt but when I was vacuuming I bumped into the table and the glass fell and…" Finn left off pulling a broken wine glass from behind his back. Kurt looked like he wanted to cry.

"It's ruined! Everything is ruined! We're calling it off. I can't do it," Kurt wailed as he turned into Rachel to cry on her shoulder. She patted his back and made soothing shushing sounds. Finn looked extremely guilty.

"Kurt, it's okay man, we can get another glass," Finn started trying to calm his brother down.

"It's not the glass! It's the pressure! The broken glass is a metaphor. Everything will start out all nice and pretty just like my beautiful table but then some big loud problem will come along and destroy all the hard work I've put into this! No, I'm calling Blaine now and cance-" Kurt exclaimed until there was a knock on the door. "Oh no!" Kurt rushed into the bathroom to keep their guests from knowing he had just been crying.

Burt answered the door to find Leroy and Hiram. They had allowed Rachel to head over to Finn's early to help with the preparations for the Father's Day Soiree and told her they'd be over before dinner. She had already given them their presents, tickets to the Lima Theatre Guild's production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet along with a pair of beautifully handmade stuffed turtle doves, to symbolize their everlasting love for each other, that Rachel had sewn together herself in Home Ec. After the disaster that was her first Lady Gaga look, Rachel had decided to learn to sew so as to avoid another train wreck. She thought it was quite useful outside of glee club too as she had sewn Finn's pants back together after having pulled a little too roughly to get them off him the one night.

"Hiram, Leroy, nice to see you as always," Burt said warmly as he greeted the men. They shook hands and walked into the living room together.

"Hi Dad, Daddy," Rachel greeted, hugging her fathers hello. "Dinner is almost ready. We're just waiting for the Andersons to arrive."

Almost as if they had heard Rachel speak, there was another knock on the door. Burt got up from his chair again and went to answer it. Standing there was Blaine and his parents. "Hello Mr. Hummel. Happy Father's Day," Blaine said as Burt let him and his parents into the house. "Mom, Dad, this is Kurt's dad Burt. Mr. Hummel, this is my dad Mark and my mom Kathy." Blaine looked extremely nervous as his father and mother shook Burt's hand. So far they had been tame but who knew what could happen later.

Kurt appeared as if out of thin air ready to greet the Andersons. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson; it's so nice to see you again," he welcomed sweetly. "Dinner is ready if you'll follow me to the dining room." Everyone followed Kurt into the dining room and squeezed around the table. Then the awkward really began.

"So Carole, you're Kurt's step-mother?" Kathy asked sounding as if it were a bad thing.

"Yes, but I'd like to think I'm not an evil one," she said with a chuckle in response to Kathy's tone.

"Carole, you're absolutely fabulous. As much as I'd love to be Cinderella, you're no Lady Tremaine," Kurt joked earning him a tight look from Blaine's father.

Kathy continued. "Are you divorced?"

Carole glanced at Finn. "No, widowed. My first husband, Finn's father, was in the military and was killed in action. Burt's been the only great relationship I've had since Christopher passed." She smiled at Burt and he gripped her hand under the table.

"Oh I'm so sorry; and Burt, you're widowed as well?" Burt looked somewhat uncomfortable. Why did all this matter so much to the woman?

"Yes, my wife died about 10 years ago," he replied solemnly.

"I'm sorry if I'm being too forward or making you uncomfortable. It's just we don't know very much about Kurt and your family. Blaine hasn't really told us much," Kathy explained sensing Burt's discomfort.

"So the first thing you ask is about their dead spouses?" Blaine said a little angrily as he placed his fork on his plate a little too harshly.

Mark looked at him sternly. "They're just questions Blaine."

"About topics that Mr. and Mrs. Hummel might not feel comfortable talking about, Dad. Did you ever think of that?"

"Blaine, it's alright. One of the points of this was to get to know each other," Carole said nicely. Blaine didn't look happy but he shook his head in agreement. From there the conversation got a little lighter and Kathy and Mark just stuck to basic questions that weren't about dead loved ones. Other than the tense and awkward moment between Blaine and his parents at the start, dinner went off without a hitch. Kurt relaxed a little thinking that maybe this wouldn't be a total disaster. After dinner was over everyone moved into the living room for small talk and digestion before dessert.

"I can't believe it took us over a year to finally meet," Burt commented as he sat in his chair.

"Well I honestly didn't think Blaine and Kurt's relationship would last long enough to really need to meet. You know how fleeting high school relationships can be. We thought Kurt might have just been a phase," Mark stated as he took a sip of his drink he brought with him. The room tensed at Mark's words.

Burt tightened his lips so he couldn't say something he'd regret. Carole spoke instead. "You have to know how important Blaine is to this family. He's like another son. We love having him around and it means so much that you finally agreed to come to dinner."

"Actually we only agreed because we wanted to see the family Kurt came from since apparently he and Blaine will be moving to New York together," Mark replied with some venom in his voice. Clearly he did not approve of his son living with another man in a non-roommates capacity. "Was not expecting them to be living together."

Blaine spoke up. "I've told you we're not moving in together yet. I have to dorm at NYU and Kurt is dorming at Parsons. Just because we're going to New York together doesn't mean we're moving in together yet."

"And even if they were Mark, what's so wrong about that? They're a good pair," Burt supplied in support.

"I just don't like the idea of two young _men_ living together." Everyone could hear the emphasis he placed on men and understood what it meant.

At this Leroy added his thoughts. "What exactly is so wrong with that idea? How is it any different than a young _man_ and young _woman_ living together? Hiram and I have lived together ever since we were about 20 years old."

"You're gay?" Mark asked shocked. Everyone stared at him like he was crazy.

Finn leaned over to whisper in Rachel's ear. "Is this guy serious?" Hiram and Leroy were by no means as flamboyant as Kurt but it was clear they were homosexual and in a committed relationship. They had been introduced to Mark and Kathy as Rachel's fathers! How could he not have realized they were gay?

"What gave it away?" Leroy said mockingly.

"I'm sorry I just didn't make the connection. So Hiram you must be Rachel's father, right?" Mark asked rather insensitively.

"We're both Rachel's fathers," Leroy replied with a growl.

"Yeah, but Hiram's actu-"

"Mr. Anderson, I don't mean to be rude but you are totally out of line right now," Rachel stood up and said to the man who looked affronted. "Leroy and Hiram Berry are both my fathers. It doesn't matter who is biologically my dad. It takes more than genetics to be a parent. They have equally raised me and given me more love than anyone can." Hiram and Leroy both looked at Rachel proudly.

Mark looked at Rachel in distaste. "Are you trying to say that gay parents are better than the traditional mother and father?"

"I'm merely saying that I don't think it matters who raises a person as long as they do their best to make sure that person is cared for and loved." Rachel was going to end it there but something in her made her push on. "I'm surprised that Blaine has turned out as well adjusted as he has with a father like you."

"Excuse me?" Mark said standing, towering over Rachel. All the guys stood up and Finn gripped Rachel's arm ready to pull her away from the angry man if need be.

Rachel stretched to her full height and let it all fly. "You heard me. I don't think you're a very nice person, Mr. Anderson. You have an amazing son but you don't care that he is talented beyond comprehension or that he was accepted into one of the best schools in New York based on that talent and how smart he is; you only care that he likes men instead of women. Well guess what sir, that's who he is. Kurt is not a phase in Blaine's life. Being gay is not a phase. Until you can accept that, you are always going to be disappointed. Instead of trying to change your son to be what you think he should be, you should love him for the amazing person that he is."

Mark was ticked to say the least. "Look here little girl, I don't know who you think you are but you have no right to speak to me that way! You know nothing about my relationship with my son. You should really mind your own business."

"She's got a point Dad." Mark turned to look at his son. "Nothing I do is ever good enough for you. You're so hung up on my sexuality that you can't appreciate anything else I accomplish. You didn't even congratulate me on getting into NYU and you only ever do anything with me when you think it'll help turn me straight. It's not some switch you can turn on and off."

He got in Blaine's face. "I am a good father to you! I let you transfer to Dalton when you were getting bullied and I've always been there for you. The least you could do for me is try to not be gay, Blaine! You don't have to be a fag-"

As soon as the word escaped Mark's mouth, Burt rounded on him. "Don't you dare call him that!" Burt pushed Mark away from Blaine and got into his face now. "You're a horrible person. You think it was easy for me to have to come to terms with my son's sexuality? No, I still struggle sometimes, but the difference between a good father and a bad one is that a good father will love his son unconditionally. I love Kurt no matter who he loves. Blaine is a good kid and you are missing out on having a relationship with him because of who he happens to be attracted to? That's just stupid and petty. If you were a good father, you would support Blaine and be proud of him and not try to change him."

"I love my son!" Mark screamed in Burt's face.

"Yeah, well clearly not enough. Now I'd appreciate it if you'd get the hell out of my house. I won't have bigots who use derogatory terms like that in my home." Burt pointed to the door then walked over to Blaine. "You are welcome here any time you want Blaine. It doesn't matter what time of day or what we're doing, if you need to come over here, you can." Blaine thanked Burt and shook his hand before Burt pulled him in for a hug.

Kathy and Mark got their stuff together and headed for the door. "Come on Blaine, we're going."

"No, I'm staying here. I'll come home tomorrow but I can't go with you right now," Blaine said standing resolute in the living room. His father's face hardened but he didn't protest. Blaine said goodbye to his mother and they left.

The tension in the room died down significantly but it still felt awkward. Blaine made to go upstairs and Kurt followed him out of the room. Rachel fell onto the couch next to her dad and Finn sat on her other side. "This is entirely my fault. I never should have said anything. I'm so sorry I ruined Father's Day for you all." Rachel chewed on her lip and looked apologetically at Burt and her fathers.

"It's not your fault Rachel. If you hadn't of said something I'm sure I would have. That guy really needs to work on himself," Burt responded.

"And you didn't ruin Father's Day sweetie," Hiram chipped in. "I am so proud of you for standing up to him. You proved that we did something right as dads; that we're really worthy of the holiday." He smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

Rachel stood back up. "I'm going to go upstairs and see if Blaine is alright." She grabbed Finn's hand and pulled him with her. "I can't believe Blaine has had to put up with that his whole life. I'm so thankful for my dads," Rachel said as they walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm lucky that Kurt set my mom and Burt up. He's a pretty awesome step-dad," Finn commented. They made it to Kurt's room where they could hear Kurt and Blaine talking. Finn knocked on the door and opened it a crack. "Can we come in?"

Kurt pulled the door open more and allowed Finn and Rachel to enter. "Blaine, I am so sorry," Rachel said as Blaine waved away her worry.

"You didn't do anything. My dad was being an ass the entire time and I knew he was going to say something to tick someone off. I didn't expect it to be you, but I knew it would be someone." He threw himself back onto Kurt's pillow. "He just won't get over it! I've tried everything to get him to accept that I'm gay but he just won't."

"You can't force people to change how they feel. I know it sucks and isn't fair but maybe your father won't ever be able to accept the facts no matter what you do. It's his loss though, Blaine, you have to know that. It's not your fault," Rachel said sitting next to Blaine on the bed. She felt so bad that he was going through this.

Blaine sighed and sat up again. "It just sucks that I'm going to have to go home and deal with him for the remainder of the summer. I just want New York now!"

Suddenly a light bulb went on in Finn's mind. "Maybe not. Kurt how against letting Blaine move in do you think Burt would be?"

Kurt looked surprised. "You think Blaine should move in with us? Oh I'm sure his father would _love_ that."

Finn shrugged. "School is over and Blaine is 18. He doesn't have to live with his parents anymore if he doesn't want to and Burt already said he's welcome here whenever he wants," he said not seeing the problem. "We can turn the attic into a bedroom or something and it would just be until school starts."

The more Kurt thought about it the more he liked the idea. The commute would definitely be shorter. "Well we'd have to ask Dad and Carole of course and after that, if they say yes, it would be up to Blaine." They all looked at Blaine expectantly.

"You really wouldn't mind if I lived here?" he asked skeptically.

"Dude, as long as you and Kurt don't have sex anywhere in my room and try to keep it down when you have it in other rooms, I don't have a problem with it."

Kurt snorted. "That's rich coming from Moan Man with his Scream Queen."

"Hey! We try to keep it down. Finn and I can't help it that we're just that good." Rachel laughed as Finn fist bumped her in agreement.

"But seriously dude, our parents love you and now that they know more about your situation, they'd probably be open to it." Blaine nodded at Finn contemplatively. "Just think about it and if you really want to, we can ask Burt and my mom about it."

Rachel's phone buzzed then and she noticed she had a text from her dad telling her they were headed home. She was allowed to stay if she wanted but needed to be home by 11. Quickly she ran downstairs and said goodbye to her dads and told them how much she loved and appreciated them and everything they do for her and for never trying to keep her from being who she was.

After saying goodbye Rachel ran back upstairs to Kurt's room but before she could get through the door, Finn opened it and threw her over his shoulder. He rushed to his own room and closed the door behind him.

"Finn!" Rachel giggled. "What are you doing? Your parents are right downstairs."

Finn put her down and looked at her. "Rachel, it's been three weeks and we have two hours before you have to be home," he whined. Rachel still had some minor pain whenever she moved suddenly but her bruises had mostly healed. They hadn't done much besides light making out since Rachel's fight though.

"Believe me Moan Man, I want it just as bad as you do and I think I'm healed enough to try, but we are not having sex with your parents downstairs." Finn groaned as he flung himself face first onto his bed. "Could you be more of a drama queen right now?"

Finn said something incoherent into his pillow as Rachel sat on the bed next to him. Rachel looked at the back of his head. "What?"

He lifted his head and spoke. "You had sex with me when Kurt and Blaine were in the next room."

Rachel laid down next to Finn and played with his hair as he shifted to look at her. "That's Kurt and Blaine. They can't ground us until we leave for college if they catch us fornicating in your room. Finn, we have the entire summer of our parents being at work while our homes remain empty and waiting on weekdays. Tomorrow you are more than welcome to come over and spend the day with me. I think you can last another 12 hours."

"Fine, tomorrow. I should warn you though, I have a lot of free time to fill tomorrow," Finn said flirtatiously.

"You and me both Moan Man," Rachel shot back at him with a wink.

"Are you really going with the nickname Kurt came up with for me, Scream Queen?" Finn blinked at his girlfriend.

Rachel shook her head and giggled. "I like it. It's very fitting." Then she leaned in to kiss Finn. The next two hours flew by while Finn and Rachel fervently made out on his bed. About ten minutes to 11 Finn drove Rachel home.

"My dads should be out by nine at the latest. Make sure to eat a good breakfast. I plan on filling all my free time tomorrow," Rachel said salaciously before kissing Finn goodbye. He really wanted to lay her out on the truck bench right then and there and have his way with her but he kept those thoughts in his mind. They would have all day tomorrow if he could keep his junk from falling off from lack of use before then.

Rachel hopped out of the cab and sauntered up to her front door in a way that made Finn want to jump into the nearest body of cool water he could find. Sometimes he swore Rachel was trying to kill him. She opened her door, turned around and blew Finn a kiss then walked inside.

Though the evening had been full of tension and drama it had ended on a good note for everyone. Burt had a mostly relaxing Father's Day and had enjoyed his sports themed Monopoly Finn had given him, Kurt got to spend the night with his boyfriend, Blaine was potentially moving into a home that would accept him no matter what and Finn had the promise of hours of sex with his girlfriend. Overall, it hadn't been a bad day.


	20. Twilight's Last Gleaming

I apologize for the minor delay in updating. Work has been taking up much of my time the past few days, but finally, I have returned with the latest chapter! For your enjoyment...

* * *

><p>It was the Fourth of July again and Finn and Rachel were in the midst of making their own fireworks in the kitchen. It was one of those rare moments when the house was completely empty so the two lovebirds decided to take advantage of the situation. When they had come home from breakfast to find Kurt's note in the kitchen saying he and Blaine would be out shopping and knowing his mom and Burt were at work until at least four, Finn took control in a way that had Rachel yearning for more.<p>

He was practically animalistic when he pinned Rachel against the refrigerator without warning and started kissing her fiercely on the mouth. She was taken aback for a moment but as the feel of Finn's body pressed against hers set in she let go. Without removing any clothing, Finn picked Rachel up and wrapped her legs around his waist. She hastily undid his button and fly and moved the material out of the way to release his already very stiff member. Finn dipped his hand between Rachel's legs under her skirt and moved her panties aside. He could feel how wet she was already and just to be sure she was good and ready, he flicked his thumb over her clit causing more wetness to coat his fingers.

Without further delay, Finn thrust into Rachel forcing a loud moan from her mouth. She gripped the hair on the back of his head with one hand while the other held onto his shoulder. He pounded into her quickly not very concerned with technique or sensuality. This wasn't slow and steady love making, this was pure unadulterated fucking.

Rachel moved her hips in time with Finn's thrusts and she felt like electricity was coursing through her. She placed her lips against Finn's then trailed them down his jaw and neck until she got to his shoulder. Rachel pushed the fabric of his t-shirt aside. All she had wanted to do was suck on his skin there but Finn lost his grip momentarily which caused Rachel to bite down rather hard on his shoulder. He let out a moan which Rachel had thought been one of pain but as she pulled back to look at Finn he looked like he was in pure ecstasy. Apparently Finn had enjoyed the bite.

Wanting to use this new kink to her advantage, Rachel moved her lips back to Finn's shoulder and gently nibbled on his skin. With each little nip, Finn seemed to get lower and lower to the floor. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and he had to put Rachel down before his knees gave out.

"I don't know what made you start biting me, but please do not stop," he said in a husky voice as he tried to come up with a better position to fuck in. Before he could find one though, Rachel grabbed his hand and pulled him into the dining room. She shoved the placemats off the table and climbed onto it.

Finn stared in awe at his girlfriend kneeling on the wood, sexily unbuttoning her blouse and pulling it off then shimmying out of her cute little blue elephant and pink flower covered panties. She pulled them off her body and tossed them at Finn. They landed on his head and Rachel let out a giggle. He ripped them off and let them fall to the floor then shucked his own shorts and boxers off. Finn stalked forward and climbed onto the table as Rachel leaned back preparing herself for more. She had an idea she wanted to try out.

Rachel pulled her knees up as close to her chin as she could get them. Finn knelt in front of her and leaned forward and she put her calves up onto his shoulders. He moved forward more pushing her legs back and as he re-entered her, he couldn't believe how amazingly tight Rachel felt around him. It felt almost like he had grown a few inches instantly.

As he thrust deeper and harder into Rachel her legs went further back until her ankles were practically over her head. He had no idea Rachel was _that_ flexible. "Where…what…?" Finn panted out between thrusts.

"Yoga," Rachel whined out, somehow knowing what Finn was trying to ask through her lustful haze. Her legs came forward a bit and she rolled her lower back upward more while Finn put his knees under her for support. He pushed his torso against her thighs and continued his deep thrusts. As he moved in and out he brushed Rachel's spot and every time she let out breathy little 'oh's'.

Rachel gripped Finn's leg with one hand to steady herself as she moved her other one between her legs. She began toying with her clit and when Finn looked down to watch he lost it. He could feel himself shudder and spill into Rachel as his face contorted in pleasure and he let out a huge moan but as he did this he could also feel Rachel pulsing around him. She cried out just as loudly and her legs fell from Finn's shoulders as her toes curled and her knees pulled up. Her back arched off the table and Finn wrapped his arms under her before they both collapsed from exhaustion.

From his place on Rachel's chest, Finn could hear her rapid heartbeat. It was one of his favorite sounds in the world, especially when he knew he was the one who had got it that way. Rachel scraped her fingernails over Finn's back and he practically purred at the sensation. He turned his face to kiss Rachel's chest and pulled himself up to get closer to her face.

"I really like when this house is empty," Rachel said before Finn leaned down to kiss her.

"Me too." Finn continued to lace little kisses on Rachel's face and neck and started trailing down her supersensitive body. He unhooked her bra and using only his teeth pulled it off her. Rachel thought Finn looked like a playful lion cub as he shook his head with the fabric in his mouth to get it off her. The straps came off her arms finally and he tossed it to the side.

His head hovered over Rachel's chest and he playfully licked up the valley between her breasts. She arched her chest against his mouth when he stopped to suck on the skin right above her right breast. Then he kissed the skin down to her taught nipple and licked it with the tip of his tongue before taking it between his teeth and sucking.

Rachel's body was humming and all she wanted was more from Finn. He continued his trail of kisses from her nipple down her stomach and as he made it to her skirt, he tugged on the side zipper, sat up, and pulled the flowery fabric off her. She looked up at Finn shyly and a small smile spread across his face. Finn dipped back down to pick up where he left off and he could feel Rachel writhing under him at the anticipation of yet another orgasm.

Instead of going directly where Rachel was trying to push his head, he slowly licked from Rachel's pelvic bone up the inside of her thigh then curved with her knee up to her foot. He was going to kiss her insole but she started giggling too much at him tickling her feet and ended up kicking him in the stomach with her other foot.

"I'm so sorry Finn! That just really tickled," Rachel said sheepishly as she sat up to apologize. Finn was sitting on the edge of the table holding his stomach where Rachel had kicked him.

"It's okay. Now I know not to mess with your feet," he strangled out. It took a moment for him to catch his breath but once he did, he laid Rachel back out on the table. She gripped the hem of his t-shirt and started pulling it off him as he caressed her body with his lips once more.

Finally, he made it to where Rachel wanted him. He licked and sucked on every bit of her except for just where she needed it most. Finn was drawing it out and torturing her with all the buildup. She tugged on his hair and squeezed her thighs together capturing his head snugly between them. To keep her from crushing his skull, Finn wrapped his arms around her thighs from under her and pulled her legs apart. Rachel's hips bucked upward causing Finn to graze her clit. She let out a very loud whine.

It was so loud neither Finn nor Rachel heard the front door open and shut. Their heartbeats were so loud in their ears they didn't hear the footsteps heading in their direction. The two lovers were so caught up in each other that they didn't realize they had an audience until Rachel turned her head by chance and to her grave horror saw about a third of the glee club staring slack-jawed at Finn going down on her on the dining room table. She let out a scream so loud she thought she might have woken all the dead in Ohio.

Panicking like never before, Rachel shoved Finn away from her and made to roll off the table but she was blocked by the chairs. She searched for an opening and once found, bounded through it. The only problem was that she had to break through the glee kids to get away. Instead she quickly ducked under the table and frantically started searching for her clothes that had been thrown about the room.

Up above, Finn had realized seconds after Rachel shoved him away that something was very wrong. He turned in the direction of his seven friends staring at him and turned beet red. Finn scrambled off the table and zeroed in on his boxers on the floor. Desperately trying to cover himself, Finn lost his balance and crashed loudly to the floor. Everyone watching burst out laughing at Finn sprawled out in front of the table. Rachel re-emerged from under the table fully dressed, minus the elephant undies she had been unable to grab and scooped up the remainder of Finn's clothing to help him get dressed. She was beyond mortified and secretly prayed that God would strike her down there and now just to end her humiliation.

"On the dining room table? Really? We eat off that thing!" Kurt yelled at Finn and Rachel who were still struggling to get Finn's pants on. Rachel looked around for her elephant undies but couldn't find them. They hadn't dropped that far from the table.

"Looking for these?" Santana said dangling Rachel's underwear out in front of her. Her eyes widened in horror and she stood up to swipe them from Santana's grasp. "Uh uh, no, what's the magic word?" Santana taunted, drawing out Rachel's humiliation further by putting them behind her back to keep her from grabbing them.

"Give me my underwear Santana!" Rachel screeched at her. Marie ripped the underwear from Santana's grasp behind her back and handed them to Rachel. Santana burst out laughing and doubled over at Rachel's embarrassment as she stalked off in the direction of the upstairs.

"What are you guys doing here?" Finn asked kind of angrily as he stood up fully clothed now.

Kurt looked affronted. "I live here Finn. I was just coming home with some friends to start setting up for the barbeque like a normal person who lives somewhere. The better question is why were _you and Rachel_ having sex on the dining room table?"

Finn ran his hand through his hair nervously. "You left a note saying you went shopping. I assumed that meant for a few hours."

"So you thought that meant that you could turn our dining room table into firewood? Because that's all it's good for now after what I just witnessed you and Rachel doing on it!" Kurt screeched back. They stared each other down bitterly until Blaine interjected.

"Everyone just calm down. Finn, disinfect the table then go clean up. You look and smell like sex. Kurt, ladies, head to the kitchen and start putting the groceries away. We just need to move on from this, okay?" Blaine looked around at everyone. "Go!" The girls moved into the kitchen followed by Blaine and a still very pissed off Kurt while Finn headed to the bathroom to grab some Lysol spray.

"So much for never having been walked in on during sex," Finn grumbled. This was much worse than when Rachel had walked in on Kurt and Blaine. That was a split second and one person, this was a mortifyingly long few minutes and Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Marie, Riley, Mercedes and Brittany had all stood around watching them and laughing. He had a feeling he'd never live this down. Finn disinfected the table 10 times for good measure then headed upstairs.

Rachel was in his shower, silent, just letting the water cascade over her. He pulled off his clothes and popped in with her. "I have never been so humiliated," she started when she noticed Finn getting in. "Finn, until we have our own dwellings that we don't have to share with anyone, we are _never_ having sex outside of the bedroom. I _never_ want to have to go through that again."

Finn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that…that was bad," Finn commented and Rachel moved to let him under the water.

"I don't understand why all the girls are here. It still would have been the worst moment of my life if just Kurt and Blaine had walked in, but Mercedes, Santana, Brittany, Marie, and Riley being here made it horrific. Thank God none of the guys were here! Could you imagine if Puck had been present?" Rachel shivered at the thought of Puck seeing them in that compromising position.

Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel to calm her down. She breathed in his scent and they stood there holding each other until they turned pruny. Once they actually washed, the pair dried off and got re-dressed in new outfits. Luckily Rachel had been planning on changing anyway. They put on their game faces and headed back downstairs to face their friends.

"You two were upstairs for quite a while. Did you make your shower extra steamy?" Santana taunted, noticing they both had wet hair.

"Shut it, Santana! I am not talking about it now or ever!" Rachel barked back at her. Santana just laughed then went back to chopping tomatoes. "What are you all doing here anyway? The barbeque doesn't start until four."

Mercedes answered, "Riley, Marie and I ran into Kurt and Blaine at the supermarket and offered to come over to help out. We had to make a pit stop at Party City though to pick up some last minute decorations where we ran into Santana and Brittany. They said they'd come over too. So here we all are." She smiled at Rachel slyly. "Wasn't expecting a live-action porno to be going on in the dining room when we got here."

Rachel's face went red. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Rachel said through gritted teeth ignoring her comment and trying not to flip out. She wasn't mad at them for finding her and Finn, she was mad at herself for being so careless as to get caught. The others constantly bringing it up was just making it worse.

"You could start decorating the dining room…you know, since you love the table in there so much," Mercedes ribbed. Everyone in the kitchen snickered, trying not to burst into hysterics. Rachel huffed and rolled her eyes then grabbed the bag of decorations. There was a knock on the door and Rachel went to answer it. It was Puck and Quinn.

"I brought meat!" was all Puck said as he entered the house carrying what looked like 50 hamburgers. Quinn followed him in.

"Hello Rachel," Quinn said politely as she entered then walked toward the kitchen herself. Before Rachel could shut the door however, Tina and Mike appeared. Rachel greeted them then they all walked toward the kitchen.

"Why is everyone here now? It's only noon," Rachel questioned.

"Kurt sent us a text saying we could come over early if we wanted," Tina explained. "We didn't really have anything else to do and since this may be the last time we'll all see each other, we should spend as much time as possible together."

After that the rest of the glee clubbers had started arriving as well. Kyle brought a Slip 'N Slide and a bounce house with him and Finn and Puck helped him set them up in the backyard. Immediately after the bounce house went up, Finn and Puck climbed in and started beating the crap out of each other. As Rachel watched she only hoped her children would not be such idiots. Since they'd be Finn's, she had to admit she was kind of worried.

The group finished preparing the food and decorations so that all that was left was to grill when Burt and Carole arrived. Everyone changed into their bathing suits and started messing around with the Slip 'N Slide and Finn had even brought out the big guns, literally. He had 10 Super Soaker water guns which all the guys snapped up and filled. The girls weren't sure why he had so many water guns but Santana vowed that if they so much as even sprayed water near her she would go nuclear on them. Shortly after the declaration, Trace hit Santana in the back of the head with a stream from his gun. She wasn't kidding about going nuclear.

Santana chased the scared little boy around the yard yelling profanities at him in Spanish and no one even tried to stop her. They thought it was hilarious. When she finally caught him she kneed him in the balls then pulled his shorts so far up his ass, he'd need surgery to remove them. Or at least that's how Santana described it.

Around four o'clock, Burt and Carole had arrived home to find their house swarming with teenagers. Burt called Finn and Kurt into the living room.

"Do you think you kids could manage without us tonight? Your mom and I got invited to an adults' only party," Burt said as he waited for Carole to finish getting ready upstairs.

"Why is it adults only?" Finn asked suspiciously.

Burt looked up at him. "Because there will be a lot of alcohol and most of the kids are over here anyway. I mean Carole and I can stay if you really want…"

"No, no father, you and Carole should go and have a lovely evening together! Finn and I can manage the house," Kurt said picking his father up off the couch and hustling him toward the front door. "What time can we expect you home?"

Burt stopped his son's pushing motions on his back and turned around. "Probably not until late but Kurt, if we come home to a wrecked house and naked and passed out teenagers," he looked at Finn as he said this and Finn looked away guiltily, "you can forget Carole and I ever leaving you and your friends home alone again. You understand me; both of you?"

Kurt and Finn both nodded in understanding and Carole joined them all at the front door. They said goodbye and Kurt and Finn headed back outside, stopping to grab all the meat and tofu burgers needing grilling. "Where are Burt and Carole?" Rachel asked as she noticed Finn carrying the food. "I thought he wanted to grill?"

"Burt and my mom are going to another party so we have the place to ourselves," Finn said with a grin.

"Alright! Let's break out the booze!" Puck hollered.

"No Puckerman, we are keeping this party alcohol free. You and Rachel might be okay with having your houses get destroyed, but that is not happening here. My father put his trust in Finn and I and I am not losing it," Kurt objected to Puck's dismay.

"Kurt, no parents will be here tonight. Puck can get us beer. Yet, you want us _not_ to take advantage of the situation? What the fuck are we supposed to do for fun?" Trace said trying to sway Kurt's opinion.

Kurt sighed and looked at his semi-friend. "This party was never going to have alcohol at it in the first place. We'll just continue on the way we were before and if you even try to get into my dad's stuff, I will have Santana knee you in the balls again!" He glanced at Santana and she shook her head in support. Trace's face went white and he covered his groin protectively.

"You stay away from me Devil Woman," Trace said as he put up the sign of the cross with his fingers. Santana hissed at him and he jumped then hid behind Mercedes.

Finn and Sam handled the grill while Rachel took care of making her own tofu burger on the George Foreman. She offered one to everyone else but no one accepted, not even Marie. Try as she might she still couldn't get anyone to switch to a vegan lifestyle with her or even a vegetarian one. While they grilled, the girls sunbathed and gossiped and Rachel couldn't help but notice that many of the girls were staring quite intently at Finn. When she walked over to chit chat with them she discovered why.

"You really weren't kidding about Finn's size," Marie said point blank as Rachel sat on the blanket they were all lying on. Rachel blushed.

"Are you still talking about this? Please, just-"

"Don't even tell us to drop it Berry. This is the kind of juicy gossip we thrive on," Santana said as she pulled her sunglasses down to look at Rachel.

Brittany sat up and looked at Rachel. "Oh yeah, this is definitely going on Fondue for Two. The students of McKinley will want to know."

"Brittany, I swear I will hunt you down if that information surfaces anywhere online! It's nobody's business!" Rachel pointed her finger in Brittany's face before she tried to bite her.

"Calm down, short stack. I don't know why you're being so uptight about this. People have sex, sometimes in non-traditional places, sometimes they get caught. You don't think for as often as I've done the dirty that I haven't been caught? Just own it. You'll seem less prude. And honestly Rachel, you really have _nothing_ to be ashamed of. Under those hideous clothes is a pretty hot body…for a hobbit." Rachel was blown away by Santana's admission. Did she just call her hot?

"And Finn's not bad to look at either," Marie added. Though she had tried moving on from him and had mostly succeeded, Marie still had a few lingering feelings for Finn. "I mean, I wouldn't mind getting caught with his head between my legs."

"Marie!" Rachel shrieked. "That is highly inappropriate!"

"So is having your boyfriend go down on you on the dining room table but that didn't seem to stop you and Finn," Mercedes judged. All the girls laughed.

Puck swaggered over and pushed in between the girls to lie on the blanket. "What are you ladies talking about?" he asked laying on the charm. He winked at Marie. Ever since he and Lauren split, Puck had gone back into sex shark mode and would pretty much do anything with a vagina and a pulse. His current target was poor little Marie as she was the only glee girl who wasn't in a relationship that he hadn't at least made out with once. Even in her confused state of sexuality Riley had finally succumbed to Puck's advances. After that she had officially decided she was a lesbian.

"None of your business, Noah. Now please leave us alone and go help Finn grill or something," Rachel said annoyed.

"Don't mind her, she's just steamed over get-"

"Santana!" Rachel growled as she stared daggers at the girl.

"He's gonna find out eventually."

Puck looked intrigued. "Gonna find out what eventually?"

To Rachel's eternal gratefulness Finn called out that the burgers were all done and everyone got up to eat. They crowded around the tables that Tina and Mike had laid end to end and everyone started to chatter about their summer and school plans.

Rachel was excited to hear everyone's plans. She had been rejoicing about being accepted into the drama department at Tisch ever since March when she got the large envelope from NYU. A few days after that Finn had received his acceptance letter from Hunter College in the CUNY system for which he'd be attending for music education. It was finally official. Finn and Rachel were moving to New York together. Add in Blaine receiving the same letter from NYU and Kurt being accepted to Parsons for fashion design and it was almost perfection. The only person who really groaned at this was Santana as she would be attending Barnard College for women's studies which meant she'd probably run into at least one of them sometime while on the island of Manhattan.

"Because four years of high school wasn't enough, plus add four more in college!" Santana whined. "Although I have to admit, it will be nice to be able to see some people from home if I get homesick; even if it's your ugly mugs."

"I resent that. My _mug_ as you so rudely referred to my face as is not ugly. I work very hard to keep up this clear complexion," Kurt huffed. The table laughed. "So Tina, Mike, have you worked out how you'll fare being two hours apart from each other?"

Mike swallowed his burger. "We'll alternate weekends. I'll head to L.A. every other weekend and Tina will come to me in San Diego on the weekends between those. It's not ideal but we'll make it work." Tina gave Mike an Eskimo kiss. Tina had been accepted to UCLA for music while Mike would be attending UC San Diego for dance.

"Puck and I will totally have to visit you when we make it to California. We'll visit all of you," Brittany said glancing around the table at everyone and fist pumping. Considering that most of the glee club believed Brittany had sold her soul simply to graduate high school on time, none of them were really surprised that she had not been accepted to any colleges. Puck had just not applied anywhere. College didn't interest him. He wanted out of Lima, but he didn't believe college would be the way to go so he and Brittany devised the road trip plan. Basically, he and Brittany would travel around the country just doing anything and everything until they found something that called to them. If nothing called to them, they'd just go around again until they finally found what they were searching for.

"Well when you make it to Illinois be sure to stop by Northwestern. I'll always make some time for you," Mercedes said leaning into Brittany for a hug. She had been accepted into the music program for voice training. Mercedes looked at Sam sadly. They had been dating for over a year but had decided that once school was over to go their separate ways. She was going to Northwestern in the fall and Sam was staying in Ohio attending the University of Cincinnati for music along with Quinn who was going for real estate. Mercedes had a feeling the two blondes would eventually reconnect over their mutual school, city and hair color.

"And you can totally hit me up when you get to Massachusetts," Artie said waving his hand to call attention to him. "We can head to Boston for the weekend, yo." Artie would be headed to MIT in the fall for biomedical engineering.

"If you guys want, you can come watch me wrestle too. I'm sure Puck wouldn't mind some girl-on-girl action," Lauren joked. She was going to the University of Michigan for physical education and had received a scholarship for wrestling. Despite breaking up with Puck, they were still on friendly terms.

Puck nodded at Lauren and raised his eyebrows playfully. Then he remembered what Santana had said earlier. "So Santana, what exactly was it that I was going to find out eventually?"

Santana smirked evilly and, before Rachel could protest, she answered Puck. "Oh we caught Rachel and Finn having sex on the dining room table earlier." All conversation stopped and everyone turned to stare at Finn and Rachel. Finn face palmed and Rachel buried her head in her hands.

Puck started laughing. "I wish I could have seen that!"

"Why? You wanna see my junk?" Finn asked trying to ease the tension.

"Hell no. Berry on the other hand…I wouldn't have minded seeing her nekked." Puck stared Rachel up and down with a flirtatious smirk.

Finn looked like he wanted to hit Puck. "I am not above kicking your ass Puckerman! Don't you even think about Rachel like that!"

"What? Rachel's a hot Jew, it's natural. She's the only girl here I haven't seen naked."

Mercedes cut in. "You haven't seen me naked."

"Or me," Tina added.

"Me neither," Marie said too.

"We can change that," Puck said provocatively, mostly in Marie's direction. She merely shook her head haughtily and turned away from him.

"Puck, you are disgusting," Rachel said with revulsion.

Puck rolled his eyes. "I was complimenting you! I don't say every girl I meet is hot."

"Yes you do!" the whole table chimed out in unison. The conversation dissolved from there and went back to less embarrassing topics for Finn and Rachel. The talk continued much in that fashion and everyone started smaller conversations. They all just sat at the table for hours talking; everyone knew it would probably be one of the last times they would all be together in the same place at the same time and they didn't want to let it end.

When they first started high school, most of them hated each other. Puck was throwing Kurt in the dumpster and tossing slushies at Rachel. Santana, Brittany and Quinn would only taunt the original glee clubbers. No one ever thought they'd join them and come to love it so much they'd quit the Cheerios for it. Artie and Tina had never been in a relationship, people didn't even realize Mike could speak, Mercedes and Rachel thought they could never be friends. No one knew Lauren could sing. Rachel certainly never thought she'd find the love of her life in the high school's star quarterback Finn Hudson. Over their three years in glee club they had really become friends and even more than that, they had become family.

As the night continued they messed around in the backyard just enjoying each other's company. When it was dark enough, Puck handled the fireworks again while everyone watched. Rachel couldn't believe that this period in her life was coming to a close. High school was behind her and as much as she was looking forward to New York and college and starting a life with Finn after that, something inside her would always miss her four years at McKinley. Her years there had been turbulent but they had been amazing too and as she looked around at her friends, at her family, enjoying one of the last times they'd all be together like this, she knew she wouldn't have changed high school for anything in the world.

* * *

><p>Tears down my face. Only one chapter left!<p> 


	21. New Year, New York

And so we come to the final installment of Holiday. I just want to thank everyone once again for all the reviews, alerts, favorites, etc... I can't reiterate how much it means to me. It kept me motivated to write and I'm just so glad so many people enjoyed this. It was a lot of fun to work on. Thank you!

* * *

><p>It was Labor Day yet again but this year, Finn and Rachel weren't spending it at a lake they shouldn't be swimming in. They were in New York City and had been for about a week and a half. Rachel's classes hadn't yet started but the whole week previous had been just for Freshman Orientation. She moved into Hayden Hall on August 26th, along with Blaine who had made it into the same building, and had spent the week getting to know her new roommate and her future classmates.<p>

Rachel couldn't believe she had finally _really_ made it. Getting to New York was half the battle and now that she was there, she wouldn't let anything stop her from achieving her goal of Broadway stardom, especially not her stuck-up, privileged roommate. Her name was Éponine Carter and she had dreams of Broadway as well. She blathered on about it being in her blood as her mother had been the star of a few shows herself and her father was a director of many Off-Broadway productions, plus she shared a name with a _Les Misérables_ character.

"_I'm only going to college because my father is paying for it. He said it would 'help me hone my craft' or some junk. I'm sure I could easily get a part in any production I auditioned for if I wanted. This is all just a formality," Éponine explained to Rachel as they were setting up their room. "Someone like you actually needs the schooling."_

_Rachel's mouth fell open slightly. "What do you mean 'someone like me actually needs the schooling'?" She continued unpacking her suitcase, not looking at her new roommate as she waited for her answer._

"_Someone with as little experience as you have. You're from Ohio. It's not exactly culture capital of the world," Éponine laughed at the thought of being from anywhere besides New York._

"_I have experience. I've done community theatre and I was the female lead in my high school's glee club. Obviously Tisch thought I was good enough," Rachel countered._

_Éponine whirled around to face Rachel and looked at her seriously. "That's exactly my point. If you and I auditioned for roles tomorrow, chances are you would get shot down and I would get the part. You really need the schooling so that you won't get rejected. Plus, you don't really have the look."_

_Rachel looked down at herself. She was comfortable in her skin and had come to embrace her look but the way Éponine had just tore her down brought back old memories and insecurities of not being good enough. "What do you mean I don't have the look?" Rachel asked quietly. She knew better than to ask but she had to know what the girl meant._

"_I mean you look like a five year old whose mother dresses her, not a college freshman at NYU. All I've seen you pull from that suitcase are animal sweaters, skirts and frilly dresses. Do you even own a pair of jeans?"_

_Relief washed over Rachel when she realized Éponine was only criticizing her wardrobe. While she still wasn't too happy about it, she could handle that better than being told she needed a nose job for the thousandth time. It got old after a while. "I like my outfits. I think they're cute."_

"_Cute won't get you noticed, Rachel. Especially by guys; they don't want cute, they want hot and sexy." Éponine sat on Rachel's bed and stared at her._

"_Guys aren't really the reason I'm going to college. I'm here to learn to be a better actress so I can make it on Broadway someday. Besides, I already have a boyfriend and he likes how I look." Rachel blushed at the thought of Finn. She loved telling people she had a boyfriend. For some reason they were always surprised._

_Éponine's eyebrows went up. "You certainly work fast. You've only been in Manhattan for like __a day."_

_Rachel laughed. "We've been together for over a year. As cheesy as it sounds, he's my high school sweetheart; really he's more than that. We're 'tethered' as Finn likes to say."_

_Éponine snorted at Rachel's lovey-dovey expression. "I give you guys a month before college splits you apart. Everyone I've ever known who went to college with a high school sweetheart, left college with a different sweetheart…or single."_

"_I know everyone thinks they're the exception to the rule when it comes to high school relationships making it in the long run, but Finn and I really are the exception. We will make it because we are both very dedicated to one another and we want the relationship to work." Rachel was getting tired of having to defend her relationship. Every person she knew had been trying to tell her that she and Finn would break up eventually and that high school relationships don't transfer to college and beyond, but she refused to believe them. Finn and her had been through so much together, she couldn't imagine her life without him in it. Why couldn't people just accept that they were staying together?_

"_Where does he go to school?" Éponine asked simply._

"_Hunter College. He's majoring in music education," Rachel crowed proudly._

_Éponine looked bored. "Well, you two might stand a chance since you'll at least be on the same island." With that the girl hopped off Rachel's bed and went back to unpacking her own belongings._

Every interaction Rachel and Éponine had that week had been very similar; Éponine saying something to subtly deride Rachel and Rachel having to assert herself. She had a feeling it was going to be a very long semester living with Éponine. Thankfully, Finn was having an easier time on the roommate front.

As Hunter College only had one building to house only about 600 of their 20,000 plus students, Finn had been denied housing there. Fortunately, the school provided great alternative housing and Finn had managed to get a single room at the New Yorker Residence. He wouldn't have minded a roommate but when presented with the option of getting a single, he jumped at the chance. This way he and Rachel could have alone time whenever they wanted.

Unlike Rachel, Finn didn't get a full week for orientation. He got two days over the summer and the week that Rachel had been having fun getting to know NYU, Finn had started classes. He was determined to keep his grades up now. This wasn't high school, this was the big leagues. If he wanted to make it in New York he'd have to try harder than ever before but he was willing to put in that effort.

What he hadn't been expecting was that he'd actually like the classes. Finn had always assumed college would be harder and the professors would expect more from him, but really, it seemed easier. He felt engaged in what he was doing and for the first time he was truly absorbing and not just pretending to pay attention. The professors were also pretty cool. All of Finn's professors told their classes on the first day that they were not babysitters, they wouldn't be there to hold their hands, they wouldn't push them to get their work done on time; the students were adults who would have to be responsible for themselves. This just made Finn want to prove that he could accept that challenge and own it. That Labor Day weekend however, Finn was putting the challenge on the backburner to attend to some needs that hadn't been filled since the weekend prior.

That Monday morning when Rachel had awoken as the little spoon wrapped in Finn's arms, she could feel that at least little Finn was awake too. Subtly, she glanced back to see if big Finn was conscious but all she saw were closed eyes and a horny little smirk on his face. Feeling a little randy herself, Rachel decided to assist Finn by backing herself up onto him then grinding slowly. It didn't happen often but Finn loved it when Rachel woke him up with sex.

Rachel threw her leg over Finn's to get a little more comfortable and moved her hips forward and back taking him into her deeply each time. She threw the blanket off of them and shifted away from Finn's chest slightly then propped herself up on one elbow so she could watch herself ride him. Nothing turned Rachel on more than watching Finn's length glide in and out of her over and over.

She wrapped her arm around Finn and gripped his back then slowly ran her hand down to his cute butt. Using all the muscles in her arm, Rachel pushed on his body to force him to move further into her as she came down on him. Unfortunately her arm grew very tired and she had to stop after only about a minute. However, shortly after this, Rachel noticed Finn started moving on his own. Once Rachel felt the arm hook around her and pull her back against the hard body behind her, she knew Finn was awake. He started bestowing open mouthed kisses to Rachel's neck and gently bit down on her shoulder once there, eliciting a low moan from Rachel. As it turned out, Finn wasn't the only one who appreciated a good love bite.

Finn grunted as he started picking up the pace. He ran his hand up to Rachel's breast and pulled on her nipple. Rachel let out a breathy sigh and bit her lip. She turned her head to look at Finn and he propped himself up on his elbow to be able to kiss Rachel on the mouth. They were slow and passionate kisses, laced with everything Finn and Rachel felt for each other. The pair weren't just having sex, they were making love. While they both loved fast paced, rough, animalistic, need-you-now sex, Finn and Rachel loved making love even more. It wasn't about the end result and getting there quick, it was about feeling each other and taking care of each other and showing the other that nothing else mattered but them. When Finn and Rachel made love, everything else fell away.

Rachel moved her hand to cover Finn's and placed her fingers between his snuggly. Together they massaged her breast as Finn continued to pump into her. Deliberately, Rachel pulled Finn's hand from her breast and ghosted it down her body leading him to where she needed him. She controlled his fingers and made him circle her clit gently. Her nerves were ablaze and her breathing was heavy; her chest heaved and her skin was dewy with sweat. Every time her body rocked against Finn's they stuck together. As the intensity built up, Rachel's mind was going completely blank. She wasn't blacking out but she was going to a place of ecstasy she had only reached a handful of times. Losing her grip on Finn's hand, he took over himself and finally with a single quick swipe over her throbbing little nub, everything fell into place and Rachel came hard with a high pitched wail.

As Rachel was feeling all this, Finn had similar sensations; he could feel his orgasm building not only below the waist but everywhere else. His heart raced in his chest and his breath came out harsh. He moaned every time he thrust into Rachel and his stomach clenched with trying to keep himself together long enough to take care of his girlfriend first. All Finn could think about was Rachel; she was all that mattered and he had to let her know. He could feel her walls pulsate around his length as she came and all he could manage to utter before feeling himself let go was her name.

"Rachel," he moaned into her ear as he nuzzled against her once they both came down from their natural highs. "I love you."

She didn't reply but pulled herself off Finn, pushed him onto his back then straddled his waist. Smiling, Rachel leaned forward to kiss Finn lightly on the mouth then whispered, "I love you." Her head rested in the crook of Finn's neck and shoulder and he hugged her body tightly against him.

"I wish there was a word stronger than love. It doesn't really seem big enough for how I feel about you," Finn confessed as he ran his fingertips up and down Rachel's back. "And it gets thrown around so much; like when people say 'I love cheese' or something."

Rachel drew away from Finn. "Am I competing with cheese now? I don't think cheese can give you the same satisfaction that I just did," she quipped.

Finn's lips turned up into a smile and his eyebrow rose slightly. "I don't know, cheese is pretty damn _gouda_."

"You are such a _cheese_head," Rachel replied in a snarky tone.

"Oh baby, don't say that," Finn whined with mock hurt as he sat up quickly, pulling Rachel against him and earning a squeal from her. "You're making me _blue_."

"Why do I put up with you?" Rachel asked inquisitively as she sat in Finn's lap, toying with his hair.

"Because I've got the _cheddar_," Finn continued.

Rachel looked pensive. "Pretty sure that's not why considering you don't have _cheddar_. And seriously, cut it out."

"Or should I _cut the cheese_?" Finn raised his eyebrows playfully and gave her a big goofy smile. Clearly he thought he was being amusing.

"One, the cheese jokes are getting old now. Two, that's disgusting."

"I can't help it I'm _muenster_ good at it." Finn was trying hard to keep from laughing at Rachel's frustration.

She rolled her eyes and sighed then got off of Finn's lap. "Okay, I'm done." She got off the bed and started in the direction of Finn's private bathroom. He sat on the bed watching her.

"Rach, come on; don't leave me prov_olone_." Rachel gave him an exasperated look as he stood up to head into the bathroom with her. "You can't _string_ me along." As Rachel walked into the bathroom, right before Finn could enter too, she slammed the door in his face. He stood there stunned for a moment then tried to open the door which was now locked. "Okay, I get it. No more cheese jokes. Please let me in, babe. I have to pee." There was silence. "Babe? Rachel? Please, I really have to go." He bounced on the balls of his feet. Finn didn't realize just how badly he needed to pee until Rachel had locked him out of the bathroom. The shower went on and it only made matters worse. "Rachel!" Finn tried one last time. Finally, the lock clicked open.

"If you make one more cheese joke, you can forget ever getting another wake-up call like that again," Rachel said as she walked out of the bathroom to let Finn pee in peace. A few minutes later they were both in the shower discussing their plans for the day. "Since we've been holed up in your room for the past two days, I was thinking we should actually go out and do something today. Manhattan has so much to offer and we only scratched the surface the last time we were here."

"Whatever you want to do Rach, I am cool with it. As long as it doesn't cost too much; I only have so much money," Finn said as he washed his hair.

"Finn, you don't have to pay for everything. I have money too," Rachel protested while she rinsed her body. Finn shook his head in disagreement.

"No, I'm taking you out today. This day is all about you. Whatever you want, you get." He smiled brightly at her.

Rachel was not amused. "You're trying to make up for the cheese thing, aren't you?"

"I like your wake-up calls! I don't want to lose them." Rachel chuckled at Finn's genuine fear. She had only been kidding of course, Rachel loved her wake-up calls just as much as Finn did, but apparently he didn't realize that.

About forty minutes later they were both finally ready to leave the dorm. On the way out, they ran into Finn's neighbor. "Hey Chuck," Finn greeted.

"Hey Finn! So's this the little minx that's been makin' all those crazy noises all weekend?" he asked noticing Rachel. Her face went red and she stared at the floor. "Sounded like you two had a _very_ good mornin'." Chuck winked at Rachel.

Finn got the gassy infant look on his face and averted his eyes from Chuck. Being heard by the neighbor wasn't as bad as getting caught on the dining room table by seven friends, but speaking so bluntly about it with an almost perfect stranger was making Finn uneasy. "Uh, yeah, Chuck this is my girlfriend Rachel. Rachel this is Chuck. He lives in the room next door," Finn introduced.

Chuck took Rachel's hand in his and pulled it to his mouth. "The pleasure is mine, Rachel." He kissed the back of her hand. As Rachel pulled her hand away from Chuck, Finn wrapped an arm around her shoulders possessively.

"Well, we should be going. Rachel wants to go exploring today," Finn said steering her away from his new neighbor.

"You two have fun. Stay out of trouble," Chuck wiggled his eyebrows bawdily then headed into his room.

The first thing Finn and Rachel did was get some food at a vegan place not too far from Finn's building. There they discussed what they should do and the order they should do it in to best utilize their time. While Manhattan was only roughly 23 square miles, it held more than anyone could imagine within it.

"You know there's a Museum of Sex?" Finn asked as he looked at Google Maps on his phone. "It's only a few blocks over." He gave Rachel a suggestive stare.

Rachel leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "We are not going to the Museum of Sex, Finn; at least not today. Remember how you said today was all about me? Well, when we have a day all about you, then we can go there if you really want to."

"I'm holding you to that." Finn really wanted to go there. "What do you want to do today then?"

"I feel like we should get the really touristy things that we haven't already done out of the way first. That way we can focus on more real New Yorker things further down the line. I'd like to go to the Empire State Building and Times Square again and maybe Madame Tussaud's or MoMA and the Natural History Museum and we should take a romantic stroll through Central Park and we can stop at Bow Bridge to reminisce. Oh and we should go to Battery Park and take the ferry over to Staten Island so we can see the skyline. Also the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island would be fun. I'd really love to see some shows too."

Finn was overwhelmed by all of Rachel's suggestions. "All that stuff sounds totally awesome Rach but I don't think we'll be able to do it all today. We'll be in New York for a while so maybe we can just stick around Times Square for now. That's the biggest touristy area of the whole city."

"You're right. We have plenty of time to do everything on our list. New York isn't going anywhere and neither are we," Rachel beamed at Finn as she took his hand in hers. "I'm so happy you're here with me Finn. Everything means so much more to me knowing you'll be there with me every step of the way. I love you so much."

"More than cheese?" he said, testing Rachel's breaking point. Surprisingly she didn't get mad at him.

"Much more than cheese considering I'm vegan and don't eat cheese…unless it's vegan cheese." They smiled at each other and Finn leaned in to give Rachel a chaste kiss on the lips.

"I love you too," Finn said looking into Rachel's eyes as he pulled away.

Once they were done eating they headed in the direction of Times Square. Being that it was a holiday weekend the area was packed. They managed to make it to the Toys R Us where Rachel picked out a collectible New York Barbie and Finn bought a Force Action Lightsaber. Neither understood why the other had chosen those items but they didn't question it. They went to the Hershey Store as well and the Disney Store and after Rachel almost got knocked over by a large group of Japanese tourists, Finn decided they needed to head to a less crowded area. Rachel remembered there was a Build-A-Bear Workshop on the corner of 5th and East 46th Street so the pair went in that direction.

On the way there, Rachel came up with the idea that they each make the other a stuffed animal but they weren't allowed to reveal them until they were properly dressed and named. When they arrived Finn spotted the perfect pink pooch. Rachel headed over to the clothes and accessories while Finn stuffed the dog for her. He felt kind of stupid making his personalized message for Rachel and rubbing the little red heart on his head and heart when the lady doing the stuffing told him to but the woman behind him thought he was just adorable.

Finally the dog had been stuffed and he had to go find an outfit for it and avoid Rachel so she wouldn't see. He sent her a text saying she could stuff her animal now and went looking for an outfit Rachel would love. Rachel headed over to the stuffing area and found the most adorable Yorkshire terrier. She chose to make her own message for Finn as well and went through the whole process of stuffing the dog. Since she had already picked out its outfit, once she was done she went straight to the computers to give him a name.

Finn and Rachel met up with each other at the front door after they each paid, Rachel had insisted since they were so expensive to make, and handed each other their boxes. Rachel opened hers first.

"Oh my gosh, Finn, it's adorable!" Rachel squealed taking in the pink dog's outfit. It wore a pink and black French Cancan dancer outfit complete with little shoes and headdress. Rachel looked at the certificate that came with it for the dog's name. It was Roxanne RaspBerry. "Roxanne RaspBerry?"

"Well she's pink like a berry and your last name is Berry and I just like the name Roxanne. I think Roxanne RaspBerry flows well," Finn explained.

"I love it. Open yours!" Rachel exclaimed excitedly. Finn pulled out his Yorkshire terrier to find him dressed like a Scottish Highlander. He had a little hat on and a little pouch over the red kilt. "His name is Ian MacRuff."

"Thanks Rachel. I love him," Finn pulled Rachel in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Oh, you didn't press her paw." He grabbed Roxanne's little paw and held it up to Rachel's ear so she could hear his message. Finn pressed the button and his voice came out saying, 'I ruff you, Rachel.' "I know it doesn't make sense to have my voice coming out of what's supposed to be a girl dog, but I thought you'd like it more than the other ones."

Rachel looked up at Finn. "I love it. Now listen to yours." She held Ian's paw up for Finn and squeezed then her voice played out, "I ruff you, Finn.' They both started laughing at having chosen the same cheesy message.

"That was really original Rach. It must have taken forever to come up with," Finn joked as he put the dogs back in their boxes.

"Not as clever as yours if you ask me. That was some real prose! You should make greeting cards," Rachel teased. Finn threw his arm around Rachel's shoulder and pulled her against him as they exited the store. For the rest of the day, Finn and Rachel meandered around the city just taking everything in and making mental notes of where things were. As it got darker out they headed back in the direction of Times Square as Rachel thought it might be less crowded.

The lights were practically blinding when the couple made it back to Times Square. It was much more impressive seeing it with their own eyes as opposed to through a television screen or in pictures. Though Rachel had only been there once before oddly, it felt like home as she stood there in the middle of it all holding Finn's hand.

"Can you believe this is where we live now? We've come a long way from Lima," Finn said as he looked from the large bright screens down at Rachel. She stared up at him with big eyes and a huge shiny smile.

"It's a dream come true." Finn had told Rachel they would make New York their own and now they had. Nothing was going to change that. Rachel was getting to move forward with her dreams of Broadway but she also got to bring the best part of home with her: Finn. She looked up at him, dropped her bags next to her on the ground then moved her hands to Finn's face and pulled him down to kiss him.

As they kissed in the middle of Times Square, everything fell away until all that was left was Finn, Rachel and the promise of the city they now called theirs.


End file.
